Bi  the  ORIGINAL  MEMORIAL  ASSOCIATION. 


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A  HISTORY 


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RIGIN  OF  MEMORIAL  DAY 


AS    ADOPTED    BY 


The  Ladies'  Memorial  Association 


,  OF 

V 

COLUMBUS,  GKORGIA, 

AND  PRESENTED  TO  THE 

liizzie  Rtitlierford  Cliapter  of  tlie  Daughters  of 

the  Confederacy,  Under  wliose  Direction 

it  is  no\\r  Pnblislied. 


COLUMBUS,  GEORGIA: 

Thos.  Gilbert,  Phintkr  and  MANUFACTOHixef  Stationeh. 
"1898. 


Entered  According  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  Year  1898,  by 

Lizzie  Rutheefokd  Chapter  op  the 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy, 

I  In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


THE  SOUTHERN  SOLDIERS'  GRAVES. 


"Pulceris  tria  maniplia  ad  manes  spargei'e.'" 

"Beautiful  feet!  with  maidenly  tread, 
Offerings  bring  to  the  gallant  dead. 
Footsteps  light  press  the  sacred  sod 
Of  souls  untimely  ascended  to  God. 
Bring  Spring  flowers  in  fragrant  perfume, 
And  offer  sweet  prayers  for  a  merciful  di-om. 

"Beautiful  hands!  ye  deck  the  graves 
Above  the  dust  of  the  Southern  braves; 
Here  was  extinguished  their  manly  fire. 
Rather  than  flinch  from  the  Northman's  ire. 
Bring  Spring  flowers!  the  laurel  and  rose, 
And  deck  your  defenders'  place  of  repose. 

"  Beautiful  eyes!  the  tears  ye  shed 
Are  brighter  than  diamonds  to  those  who  bled. 
Spurned  is  the  cause  they  fell  to  save. 
But  'little  they'll  reck'  if  ye  love  their  grave. 
Bring  Spring  flowers!  with  tears  and  praise, 
And  chant  o'er  their  tombs  your  grateful  lays. 

"  Beautiful  lips!  ye  tremble  now, 
Memory  wakens  the  sleeping  one's  vow; 
Mute  are  the  lips  and  faded  the  forms 
That  never  knelt  down,  save  to  God  and  your  charms. 
Bring  Spring  flowers,  all  dewy  with  morn, 
And  think  how  they  loved  ye,  whose  graves  ye  adorn. 

"  Beautiful  hearts!  of  matron  and  maid, 
Faithful  were  ye  when  apostlea  betrayed  ! 
Here  are  your  loved  and  cherished  ones  laid; 
Peace  to  their  ashes;  the  flowers  ye  strew 
Are  monuments  worthy  the  faithful  and  true. 
Bring  Spring  flowers,  perfume  their  sod. 
With  annual  incense  to  Glory  and  God. 

"  Beautiful  tribute  at  Valor's  shrine! 
The  wreaths  that  fond  ones  lovingly  twine. 
Let  the  whole  world  their  ashes  despise, 
Those  whom  they  cherished,  with  heart,  hands  and  eyes, 
Will  In-ing  Spring  flowers,  and  bow  the  head, 
And  pray  for  the  noble  Confederate  Dead!  " 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2011  witii  funding  from 

University  of  Nortin  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/historyoforiginoOOunit 


PREKACE. 


The  mission  of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  is  to  record 
the  deeds  of  the  true  and  the  brave,  who  bore  the  star-gemmed  cross  of 
Dixie.  It  is  therefore  meet  that  the  first  work  of  the  Lizzie  Ruther- 
ford Chapter  be  a  gift  to  tlie  world  of  the  story  of  the  women  who 
originated  that  Sabbatli  of  tlie  Soutli — Memorial  Day — which  the  nation 
has  found  so  appropriate  that  it  lias  incorporated  it  with  its  holidays 
under  the  name  "Decoration  Day,"  It  was  given  to  this  Chapter  by 
the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus,  Georgia, — the  mother  to 
the  thought, — on  the  thirty-second  anniversary  of  its  initial  observ- 
ance; given  in  the  sight  and  hearing  of  thousands  who,  before  visiting 
the  soldiers'  graves  on  that  day,  had  gathered  to  listen  to  the  annual 
eulogy  pronounced  in  honor  of  the  Wearers  of  the  Grey  ;  it  was  given 
under  the  seals  of  the  only  living  witnesses  of  its  birth  and  sponsors  for 
its  baptism  ;  given  in  the  hallowed  presence  of  the  few  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  who  had  dressed  the  wounds,  smoothed 
the  pillows,  closed  the  eyes,  and  twined  garlands  for  the  martyrs  of  the 
Lost  Cause.  It  was  theirs  to  strew  flowers  for  the  soldiers;  it  is  ours  to 
strew  immortelles  for  them. 

The  Ladies'  Memorial  Association,  like  the  Pluenix,  rose  from  the 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  which  was  consumed  in  the  fires  that  burnt  the 
Confederacy.  The  parent  organization  was  born  under  the  shadow  of 
the  altar  in  tlie  Baptist  Church  of  Columbus,  on  May  31st,  1861,  and  its 
object  was  to  perform  woman's  part  in  the  service  of  her  country  in 
time  of  war. 

The  incomplete  list,  as  shown  on  page  19  of  this  volume,  admonishes 
us  that  the  time  to  write  the  record  has  already  been  too  long  delayed, 
and  wenow  hasten  to  save  the  truth  from  oblivion.     Note  well  the  few 


6 

surviving  names  from  memory's  tablet.  They  have  been  admired  in 
our  country's  historic  past.  Younger  generations  will  adore  them  in 
new  strata  as  the  Eiver  of  Time  wears  down  the  valley  walls  of  the 
future.  The  land  of  these  women  was  neither  a  food-producing  nor  a 
manufacturing  one,  yet  through  their  pious  ministrations  and  sacrificing 
devotion,  the  hungry  soldiers  were  fed  and  the  destitute  were  clothed, 
though  aged  loved  ones  and  helpless  innocent  children  were  often  left 
in  need.  At  first  the  sick  and  wounded  were  cared  for  in  the  families 
of  the  members.  As  these  multiplied,  hospitals  were  established  and 
supported.  The  ladies  nursed  the  sick,  fed  the  hungry,  and  buried  the 
dead.  Day  by  day  bad  grew  worse,  food  and  clothing  scarce  and  scarcer 
grew.  General  Sherman  was  making  his  march  through  the  Southland 
to  the  sea,  leaving  behind  a  desert  of  ashes.  With  homes  devastated, 
hearts  broken,  hopes  gone,  fathers,  husbands,  brothers,  sons  and  lovers 
killed,  these  patriotic  women,  with  lips  compressed,  forced  back  their 
tears,  gave  away  the  bread  they  needed,  wrote  letters  to  distant  and  sor- 
rowing soldier  mothers,  sent  locks  of  hair  to  far  away  sweethearts  of 
those  whose  dying  hours  they  soothed,  and  with  all  this  gave  direction 
to  the  practical  affairs  of  their  home  life  in  absence  of  husband  and 
father.  Bearing  alike  the  burden  of  woman's  devotion  and  man's  care, 
they  wrecked  their  health  and  died  for  their  country. 

The  last  battle  of  the  Civil  War,  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  was 
fought  on  tlie  Alabama  heights  overlooking  Columbus,  Ga.,  on  the  night 
of  April  16th,  1865.  The  city  was  assaulted  and,  after  it  fell,  was  sacked 
and  burned.  When  the  smoke  of  war  cleared  away,  where  do  we  find 
these  devoted  women?  Where  were  Mary  Magdalene  and  the  other 
Mary  after  the  crucifixion?  At  the  sepulcher  with  sweet  spices.  So 
these  women  come  to  the  soldiers'  graves  with  choice  plants  and  bright 
flowers.  One  day,  after  a  group  of  them  had  been  occupied  in  this  lov- 
ing service,  one  suggested  the  adoption  and  dedication  of  a  day,  and  of 
each  recurring  anniversary,  to  the  decoration  of  the  soldiers'  graves. 


All  were  pleased  with  the  thought,  and  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Sol- 
diers' Aid  Society  it  was  acted  upon  so  quickly  that  it  seemed  a  simulta- 
neous throb  from  the  heart  of  each.  The  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  became 
the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association.  The  26th  of  April,  the  anniversary 
of  the  surrender  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnson,  was  chosen  and  an  order 
of  ceremonies  arranged.  The  eloquent  pen  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Memorial  Association  inspired  the  press  and  touched  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  Like  the  hope  that  spread  over  the  earth  on  the  morning  of  the 
Resurrection,  so  the  soft  light  of  this  sentiment  shone  over  Dixie,  and 
when  April  came.  Love  wreathed  her  roses  where  the  soldiers  sleep. 

The  North  looked  on,  thought  the  custom  good,  took  it  to  herself  and 
has  hallowed  it  as  she  does  her  Thanksgiving  obligation.  April  was  too 
early  for  her  flowers,  hence  she  set  apart  May  30th.  In  the  Southwest 
the  26th  of  April  finds  Flora  past  her  bloom,  so  in  that  section  the  day  is 
earlier. 

Year  by  year  the  procession  of  Spring,  marching  up  from  the  Gulf, 
halts  at  every  mountain  side  and  mead  to  salute  the  dead  soldier  with 
flowers. 

That  future  generations  may  know  the  truth  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
beautiful  custom,  this  volume,  under  the  auspices  of  this  Chapter  of  the 
TJ.  D.  C,  is  given  to  the  world. 

ANNA  CAROLINE  BENNING, 
President  of  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter,  U.  D.  C. 

Columbus,  Georgia,  July  1st,  1898. 


COPY  OK  CHARTER 

OF" 

^'LIZZIE  RUTHERFORD  CHAPTER" 

United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy 

AT  COLUMBUS,  Ga. 


United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy 
Hereby  authorizes  and  empowers 

Miss  Anna  Caroline  ("Tiny'')  Benning, 
Mrs.  Samuel  Spencer, 
Mrs.  Lionel  C.  Levy, 

Miss  Frances  M.  Levy, 
Mrs.  Andrew  J.  Lowe, 

Mrs,  Jane  Ellison  Ware  Martin, 
Mrs.  Joseph  Harrison, 

Mrs.  a.  C.  Flewellen, 

And  their  successors,  to  associate  themselves  together  under  the 
name  and  designation  of  "Columbus  Chapter  No.  60,  United 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,''  to  be  located  at  Columbus,  in 
the  County  of  Muscogee,  State  of  Georgia. 

The  said  Columbus  Chapter  No.  60,  is  authorized  to  perform 
all  acts  pertaining  to  the  purposes  of  this  Association,  and  to 
enact,  for  its  own  government,  such  by-laws  as  may  be  deemed 
necessary;  provided  they  do  not  conflict  with  the  Charter  or  Con- 
stitution of  this  Association. 

In  testimony  of  which,  we  have  hereunto  affixed  our  signa- 
tures, at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  this  6th  day 
^  \"f  of  May,  1896. 

:  Seal  of  the  United  Dauijh- :  -  ' 

..!^'!^^.!:^^"!^:X       united  daughters  of  the  Confederacy, 

Mrs.  John  Q.  Brown,  President. 
Mrs.  J.  Jefferson  Thomas,  Secretary. 

(2) 


10 
On  back  of  Charter  ajypears  the  following : 

Full  Names  of  Within  Charter  Members. 

Miss  Anna  Caroline  ("Tiny")  Benning, 
Mrs.  Louisa  Vivian  Benning  Spencer, 
Mrs.  Isabel  Moses  Levy, 
Miss  Frances  Marion  Levy, 

Mrs.  Jane  Ellison  Ware  Martin, 
Mrs.  Sallie  Martin  Harrison, 

Mrs.  Sarah  Porter  Shepherd  Flewellen, 
Mrs.  Emmett  Ray  Lowe. 


Columbus,  Ga.,  April  26,  1898. 
Pursuant  to  resolution,  the  Columbus  Chapter  No.  60  of  the 
United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  was  on  this  day  dedicated 
as  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter,  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Lizzie  Ruth- 
erford Ellis,  who  suggested  the  idea  of  the  Confederate  Memorial 
Day.  Anna  C.  Benning,  President. 

Sallie  M.  Harrison,  Secretary. 


The  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  hereby  approves 
and  ratifies  the  above  action  on  the  part  of  Columbus  (Ga.) 
Chapter  No.  60. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  this  9th  day  of  May,  1898. 

Katie  Cabell  Currie,  President. 
Mrs.  John  P.  Hickman,  Secretary. 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


OKKICERS  AND  NIENIBERS 

OK 

LIZZIE    RUTHERKORD   CHAPTER, 

1898. 


Miss  Anna  Caroline  Benning,  President. 
Mrs.  Isabel  Moses  Levy,  Vice-President. 
Mrs.  Sallie  Martin  Harrison,  Secretary. 
Mrs.  a.  C.  Flewellen,  Corresponding  Sec'y. 
Miss  Frances  Marion  Levy,  Treasurer. 

Credential  Committee. 

Mrs.  Jane  E.  Ware  Martin, 
Mrs.  Annie  Leonard  Garrard, 
Mrs.  Sarah  Porter  Flewellen, 

Corresponding  Secretary. 

Charter  Members. 

No. 

Miss  Anna  Caroline  Benning 1 

Mrs.  Louisa  Vivian  Benning  Spencer 2 

Mrs.  Isabel  Moses  Levy S 

Miss  Frances  Marion  Levy 4 

Mrs.  H   Emmet  Ray  Lowe 5 

Mrs.  Jane  Ware  Martin 6 

Mrs.  Sallie  Martin  Harrison "^ 

Mrs.  Sarah  Porter  Flewellen 8 

Mrs.  Annie  Leonard  Garrard 9 

Miss  Annie  L.  Garrard 10 

Mrs.  Nellie  Cooper  Frederick 11 

Mrs.  Juliette  Charleton  Hudson  Compton 12 

Miss  M.  Theresa  Griffin 13 

Mrs.  Bettilu  Montcastle  Johnston 14 

Mrs.  Bettie  Blake  Dexter  Jordan 15 


12 

No. 

Mrs.  Loretta  R.  Lamar  Chappell 16 

Mrs.  Chas.  F.  Jordan IT 

Mrs.  Laura  Beecher  Comer 18 

Mrs.  Virginia  Lindsay  Woodruff 19 

Mrs.  Mary  Blackmar  Bullard 20 

Miss  Mary  Louisa  Bruce 21 

Mrs.  Clotilde  deLauney  Hines 22 

Mrs.  Mary  Hodges  Harrison 23 

Mrs.  Mary  Murdoch  Wright 24 

Mrs.  Mary  Rutherford  Jones   25 

Miss  Mar\^  U.  Kivlin 26 

Mrs.  Sarah  J.  W.  Blanchard 27 

Miss  Virginia  Craddock  Warner 28 

Mrs.  Anne  Elizabeth  Forman  Dismukes 29 

Miss  Mary  Ellison  (Ellie  May)  Bedell 30 

Mrs.  Cynthia  Kent  Hart  ("  Pinkie  ")  Chappell 31 

Mrs.  Maria  Byrd  Nelson  Woolfolk 32 

Miss  Corinne  Worsley 33 

Miss  Adele  Martiniere 34 

Miss  Mildred  Lewis  Patterson 35 

Mrs.  A.  M.  Allen 36 

Mrs.  Katherine  T.  Downing  Mitchell 37 

Mrs.  Helena  Moresette  Dismukes 38 

Mrs.  Mary  Clayton  Lary 39 

Miss  Mary  Howard  Benning 40 

Mrs.  Augusta  Benning  Crawford 41 

Mrs.  Mary  Elizabeth  Shorter  Fontaine 42 

Mrs.  Mary  Fontaine  Pou 43 

Miss  Bennie  Bruton  Fontaine 44 

Miss  Marie  Mott 45 

Miss  Irene  Eloise  Mooty 46 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Shorter  Jones 47 


[HE  City  of  Columbus,  Georgia,  in  which  originated  the 
idea  of  Memorial  Day,  celebrated  the  day  with  unusual 
interest  on  April  26th,  1898,  and  the  most  marked  fea- 
ture of  the  occasion  was  the  special  honor  accorded  to  Mrs. 
Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis,  deceased,  who  originated  the  idea  of 
Memorial  Day.  The  ladies  of  the  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter 
OF  THE  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  at  Columbus,  have 
determined  to  put  in  enduring  fame  the  true  account  of  the 
facts,  and  the  following  formal  action  of  the  Chapter,  at  their 
meeting  of  May  iOth,  1898,  was  taken  as  authority  for  this 
pamphlet : 

"The  subject  of  printing  the  history  of  Memorial  Day,  and 
putting  it  into  each  of  the  185  Chapters  of  the  U.  D.  C.  and 
Camps  of  Confederate  Veterans,  was  discussed,  and  the  import- 
ance realized.  A  motion  was  made  to  publish  the  History. 
Motion  carried." 


The  following  taken  from  the  Columbus  (Georgia)  Enquirer- 
Sun  of  April  27th,  1898,  gives  the  account  as  reported  by  a 
local  paper  of  how  Memorial  Day  was  celebrated  on  April  26th, 
1898: 

MEMORIAL    EXERCISES    TOOK   PLACE   YESTERDAY. 

A  HIGHLY  INTERESTING  PROGRAMME  CARRIED  OUT COLUMBUS  HAS 

AGAIN  PAID  FITTING    TRIBUTE  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF 
THE    GALLANT  CONFEDERATE  DEAD. 

Memorial  Day  passed  off  very  jileasantly  and  successfully  in 
Columbus. 

During  the  morning  a  slight  shower  fell,  but  by  noon  the  sun 
was  shining  brightly.  No  more  rain  fell  during  the  day,  but 
the  weather  turned  off*  quite  cool. 

The  Company  G,  Albany  Guards,  arrived  in  the  city  over  the 
Georgia  and  Alabama  road  at  9:30  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
The  company  was  accompanied  by  the  Fourth  Georgia  Regi- 


14 

merit  band,  stationed  at  Albany.  The  visitors  were  met  at  the 
depot  by  the  Columbus  Guards  and  escorted  to  the  armory. 
The  visiting  company  had  forty  men  in  line,  officered  as  follows: 
Captain  O.  S.  Scott,  First  Lieutenant  R.  S.  Eastman,  Second 
Lieutenant  J.  I.  Gilbert,  First  Sergeant  W.  T.  Ticknor,  Second 
Sergeant  J.  B.  Monry,  Third  Sergeant  T.  M.  Nelson,  Fourth 
Sergeant  I.  G.  Ehrlick,  Fifth  Sergeant  E.  T.  Carroll. 

The  procession  formed  at  the  Columbus  Guards  armory  at  2 
o'clock.  Captain  0.  S.  Scott  commanding  the  battalion.  The 
Fencibles  had  forty  men,  the  Columbus  Guards  seventy,  the 
Albany  Guards  forty,  and  the  Phenix  City  Rifles  eighteen, 
making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  in  the  battalion. 
The  "True  Blues,"  under  Captain  Jordan,  a  company  of  small 
boys,  had  sixteen  men  in  line,  with  air  guns  for  rifles.  Camp 
Benning  had  one  hundred  old  veterans  in  line.  Marshal  T. 
Jeff"  Bates,  with  his  assistants,  Mr.  Frank  Garrard  and  Captain 
W.  R.  Bedell,  handled  the  procession  in  an  able  manner. 

First,  Mounted  policemen. 

Fourth  Regiment  Band. 

Four  military  companies,  Columbus  Guards,  Browne  Fenci- 
bles, Company  G,  of  the  Albany  Guards,  and  the  Phenix  City 
Rifles. 

Phenix  City  Brass  Band. 

The  "True  Blues,"  small  boys. 

The  Confederate  Veterans  of  Camp  Benning. 

Sons  of  Confederate  Veterans,  mounted. 

Orator  of  the  Day  in  carriage  with  Mr.  Robert  Howard, 
Mayor  Chappell  and  Dr.  Carter. 

Ladies  Memorial  Association,  in  carriages. 

Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

Citizens  in  carriages. 

Fire  Department. 

After  marching  down  Broad  street  to  the  monument,  the 
procession  moved  back  up  Broad  to  Twelfth,  and  out  Twelfth 
to  First  avenue,  and  down  First  avenue  to  the  Presbyterian 
church,  where  the  Ladies  Memorial  Association  and  Daughters 
of  the  Confederacy  took  their  places  in  the  line  of  march,  which 
moved  thence  to  the  oj)era  house,  where  the  exercises  took 
place.     The  order  of  exercises  were  as  follows  : 

Music — Funeral  March — Chopin — Prof.  J.  Lewis  Browne. 
Praver — Rev.  W.  A.  Carter,  D.  D. 
Music— "Who  Will  Care  for  Mother  Now."— Octette. 
Introduction  of  speaker  by  Mr.  Robert  Howard. 
Memorial  Address,  by  Hon.  Henry  R.  Goetchius. 
Music — The  Vacant  Chair. 


15 

History  of  Memorial  Day— Presented  to  the  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter, 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  read  by  Mr.  Frank  Garrard. 

Music— The  Conquered  Banner— Miss  Marv  Kivlin. 

Recitation— Our  Confederate  Dead— Miss  Maggie  Martin  Harrison. 

Music— "Let  Us  Pass  Over  the  River,"  Stonewall  Jackson's  last 
words — Chorus. 

Piano— Miss  Mary  Kivlin. 

Cornets — Clarence  Gray  and  Mr.  Berry. 

Violin — Mr.  Dreyspool. 

Benediction — Rev.  A.  M.  Wynn. 

^  The  composition  of  Mr.  J.  Lewis  Browne's  octette  for  Memo- 
rial service  was  as  follows  : 

Soprano— Mrs.  J.  E.  Munn  and  Miss  Hannah  Crook. 
Contralto— Miss  Mary  Kivlin  and  Miss  L.  O.  Seale. 
Tenor— J.  Lee  Harris  and  Ed  R.  Cargill. 
Basso— J.  Ralston  Cargill  and  T.  M   Hudson. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  those  who  occupied  seats  on  the 
stage : 

Mayor  L.  H.  Chappell,  Urs.  Loretta  Chappell,  President 
Soldiers'  Friend  Society,  1861-'65;  surviving  members  of  Sol- 
diers' Friend  Society— Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter,  Mrs.  William  G. 
Woolfolk,  Mrs.  George  AY.  A\'oodruff,  Mrs.  Laura  Beecher 
Comer;  Mrs.  Louis  F.  Garrard,  President  Memorial  Associa- 
tion, _  1896-' 98;  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Martin,  Secretary  Memorial 
Association;  Miss  Anna  Caroline  Penning,  President  Daughters 
of  Confederacy — Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter;  Mrs.  Joseph  S. 
Harrison,  Secretary  Daughters  of  Confederacy;  pyramids  of 
children  bearing  wreaths  to  the  unknown  dead.  Following  are 
the  names  of  these  children:  Belle  Carter,  Bentley  Chappell, 
Joe  Woolfolk,  Charles  Harrison,  Bessie  Jordan,  Annie  Latimer 
Watson,  Minnie  Hall,  Leonard  Pease,  Helen  Garrard,  Edwin 
Huff,  Mercer  Blanchard,  George  Jordan,  Roberta  Slade,  Carter 
Cook,  Willie  Pease,  Ursa  Springer,  Katie  Koehne,  Louis  Cole- 
man, Eugene  Ransom,  Mary  Parish,  Natilu  Williams,  Frank 
Foley,  Clare  Booth,  Maggie  Bedell,  Jack  Charleton,  lone  Blati- 
chard,  Vera  Dozier,  Alonzo  Dozier,  Elise  Shepherd,  Richard 
Bruce,  Norman  Pease,  Marshall  Harrison,  Lucile  Woodruff, 
Ameile  Compton,  Allen  Jones,  Mary  Dozier,  Marjory  Browne, 
A.  C.  Chancellor,  Lucile  Harrison,  Sara  Holt,  Gertrude  Chase, 
Madge  Norman,  Celeste  Dismuke,  Alfred  Lucas. 

An  immense  crowd  gathered  at  the  opera  house  to  witness  the 
interesting  exercises.  There  was  hardly  standing  room  in  the 
building  when  the  orator  of  the  day,  Hon.  Henry  R.  Goetchius, 
began  his  address,  which  was  delivered  in  a  clear  voice,  which 
could  be  heard  distinctly  in  every  portion  of  the  building.     The 


16 

speaker  was  interrupted  by  frequent  rounds  of  applause.  The 
address  in  full  appears  in  another  place  in  this  paper. 

The  musical  feature  was  also  greatly  enjoyed,  and  the  reading 
of  the  history  of  the  origin  of  Memorial  Day  by  Mr.  Frank 
Garrard  was  given  close  attention  by  every  one.  On  account  of 
the  length  of  the  exercises,  a  detailed  account  of  the  programme 
cannot  be  given. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  the  exercises  at  the  opera 
house  closed,  after  which  the  procession  moved  to  the  cemetery, 
where  thousands  of  people  were  in  waiting.  The  cemetery  was 
beautifully  decorated,  the  graves  of  the  dead  soldiers  being  lit- 
erally covered  with  lovely  flowers.  The  graves  of  officers  in 
different  sections  of  the  cemetery  also  received  the  same  loving 
attention  at  the  hands  of  the  ladies. 

The  usual  salutes  were  fired  at  the  cemetery. 

The  procession  was  handled  by  Marshal  of  the  Day  Captain 
T.  Jeff  Bates  and  his  two  assistants,  Mr.  Frank  Garrard  and 
Captain  W.  R.  Bedell. 

At  the  cemetery  the  customary  salutes  were  fired  over  the 
upper  and  lower  soldiers'  graves  and  over  the  graves  of  the 
officers,  and  a  special  salute  was  fired  over  the  grave  of  Mrs. 
Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis,  which  was  draped  with  the  battle-flag 
of  the  Confederacy  and  covered  with  flowers. 


The  ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus,  Ga., 
in  their  preparations  for  the  celebration  of  April  26th,  1898, 
determined  to  make  the  special  feature  of  the  day  the  presenta- 
tion to  the  world  of  a  true  account  of  the  origin  of  Memorial 
Day.  The  orator  of  the  day  had  been  requested  by  the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  Confederacy  to  dedicate  their  chapter  under  the 
name  of  "  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter,"  and  this  was  to  be 
made  a  feature  of  the  speaker's  address.  The  Memorial  Asso- 
ciation, on  April  25th,  1898,  took  formal  action  on  the  proof  of 
the  origin  of  the  day  as  recorded  in  their  minutes,  and  author- 
ized the  reading  of  the  historv  of  the  origin  of  the  day  on 
April  26th.  1898. 

This  formal  action  was  expressed  in  a  resolution,  in  which 
was  stated  the  authenticity  of  the  proof  of  the  facts.  The  reso- 
lution, affidavits  and  letter  of  Mrs.  Williams,  together  with  the 
history  of  the  day,  as  prepared  by  the  Memorial  Association  of 
Columbus,  were  read  on  April  26th,  1898,  by  Mr.  Frank  U. 
Garrard,  and  are  as  follows  : 


17 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  MEMORIAL  DAY. 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIZZIE    RUTHERFORD   CHAPTER  OF  THE  DAUGH- 
TERS OF  THE  CONFEDERACY,   BY  THE    LADIES'   MEMO- 
RIAL ASSOCIATION  OF  COLUMBUS,   GA. 

Resolved,  By  the  ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus,  Ga., 
that  the  following  statement,  together  with  the  affidavits  of  Mrs.  William 
G.  Woolfolk,  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter,  and  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Martin,  is  a  true 
account  of  the  origin  of  Memorial  Day,  as  first  originated  in  this  city. 

Resolved  Furt/ier,  That  this  resolution  and  said  statement  and  affida- 
vits be  recorded  upon  the  minutes  of  this  Association  as  a  record  there- 
of.    Adopted.  A.  L.  Garrard,  President. 

April  25th,  1898.  Jane  E.  Martin,  Secretary. 

Columbus,  Ga.  ,  April  25,  1898. 
Inasmuch  as  the  Columbus  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the 
Confederacy  have  chosen  this  day  for  the  naming  of  their  chap- 
ter "Lizzie  Rutherford,"  we,  the  Memorial  Association  of  Co- 
lumbus, wish  not  only  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  one  of  our 
purest,  most  unselfish,  devoted  Confederate  women,  but  to  make 
this  Memorial  Day  for  all  time  among  us  a  double  memorial 
day.  We  pause  in  tearful  tenderness  to  read  the  simple  inscrip- 
tion on  her  head-stone  in  Howard  lot,  at  Linnwood  cemetery, 
in  this  city: 

"The  Soldiers'  Friend," 

Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis. 

"She  hath  done  what  she  could." — Mark  xiv.  8. 

"A  loving  tribute  to  our  co-worker, 

Mrs.  Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis." 

"In  her  patriotic  heart,  sprang  the  thought 

of  our  Memorial  Day. ' ' 

In  the  same  lot  only  a  few  few  feet  away,  on  the  head-stone 

of  Mrs.  Charles  J.  Williams,  we  pause  again  to  read: 

"Mrs.  Charles  J.  Williams, 

In  loving  recognition  of  her  memorial  work 

by  her  co-workers. ' ' 

The  history  of  Memorial  Day  has  become  a  prominent  feature 

of  the  history  of  the  South,  and  before  all  shall  have  passed 

away  of  the  little  band  who  organized  it,  we  have  endeavored 

to  get  the  facts  before  they  become  tradition.     The  affidavits  of 

Mrs.  William  G.  Woolfolk,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Dexter  and  Mrs.   Jane 

E.  Ware  Martin,  have  been  obtained,  and  are  hereto  attached, 

and  from  them  and  a  copy  of  an  original  letter  of  Mrs.  Mary  Ann 

Williams,  and  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Jones,  we  learn  that  in 

January,  1866,  Mrs.  Jane  Martin  was  visiting  Columbus.     One 

(3) 


18 

afternoon  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford  called  and  asked  her  to  accom- 
pany her  to  the  cemetery,  now  Linnwood  cemetery,  to  join  some 
other  ladies  in  looking  after  the  graves  of  the  soldiers  who  had 
died  in  Columbus  hospitals  and  been  buried  under  the  direction 
of  the  Aid  Society;  that  they  went  and  assisted  the  ladies,  and, 
returning  to  Columbus  alone,  were  discussing  the  work  they 
had  been  doing.  Miss  Lizzie  Rutlierford  remarked,  she  had 
been  reading  the  "  Initials,"*  and  thought  the  idea  of  setting 
apart  a  special  day  for  decorating  the  graves  such  a  beautiful 
one,  that  it  occurred  to  her  it  would  be  a  good  idea  for  the  Aid 
Society  to  organize  as  a  society  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  a 
custom  of  this  kind  and  set  apart  a  particular  day  for  deco- 
rating and  caring  for  the  soldiers'  graves.  Meeting  Mrs.  John 
A.  Jones,  Mrs,  Martin  suggested  to  Miss  Rutherford  to  speak  to 
her  about  it,  as  she  was  a  member  of  the  Aid  Society,  which 
she  did.  Mrs.  Jones  concurred  with  her,  and  suggested  that 
she  speak  to  Mrs.  Robert  Carter,  President  of  the  Aid  Society. 
Miss  Rutherford  stated  that  as  Secretary  of  the  Aid  Society, 
she  had  to  call  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  cer- 
tain personal  property  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  thought 
that  it  would  be  the  best  time  to  bring  the  matter  up.  The 
meeting  was  subsequently  called  and  met  at  Mrs.  John  Tyler's 
(now  corner  Fourth  avenue  and  Fourteenth  street,  in  this  city). 
The  ladies  present  were  Mrs.  Robert  Carter,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Ware, 
Mrs.  William  G.  Woolfolk,  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter,  Mrs.  J.  M. 
McAllister  and  Mrs.  Charles  J.  Williams.  Miss  Lizzie  Ruther- 
ford was  not  present  at  the  meeting,  as  slie  was  suddenly  called 
to  Montgomery  to  the  bedside  of  a  dying  relative.  Her  resolu- 
tion was  offered  by  one  of  her  friends  and  unanimously 
adopted,  and  the  "Ladies'  Memorial  Association"  was  organ- 
ized. The  officers  elected  were:  Mrs.  Robert  Carter,  president; 
Mrs.  Robert  A.  Ware,  vice-president;  Mrs.  J.  M,  McAllister, 
second  vice-president;  Mrs.  M.  A.  Patten,  treasurer;  Mrs, 
Charles  Williams,  secretary. 

No  day  was  determined  on  at  the  meeting,  but  after  Miss 
Lizzie  Rutherford  returned  to  Columbus,  when  she  and  other 
members  of  the  Society  were  working  at  the  cemetery  and  dis- 
cussing the  best  day,  she  suggested  April  26th,  which  was 
adopted,  and  Mrs.  Williams,  as  secretary,  was  requested  to 
write  to  the  different  societies  throughout  the  South,  asking 
them  to  unite  in  making  it  a  universal  custom.  Her  beautiful 
letter  speaks  for  itself.     How  well  the  work  was  done  has  been 


*  By  the  Baroness  Tautphoevis.    (See  chapter  describing  custom  of  Roman  Catholics  in  deco- 
rating the  graves  of  the  dead  on  All  Saints'  Day.) 


19 

attested  each  year.  We  hope  that  every  Southern  woman  will 
teach  the  young  of  the  South,  not  only  to  reverence  the  mem- 
ory of  the  soldiers  who  have  died  for  us,  but  we  specially  beg 
the  women  of  Columbus  to  instill  in  the  hearts  of  their  children 
reverence  for  the  soldiers  and  reverence  for  the  women  of  the 
Memorial  Association  who  inaugurated  this  beautiful  custom. 

The  Aid  Society,  sometimes  called  the  Soldiers'  Friend 
Society,  referred  to  in  this  statement,  was  an  organization  com- 
posed of  the  ladies  of  Columbus,  and  it  was  organized  in  1861 
for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  during 
the  war.  Its  first  president  was  Mrs.  Absolom  H.  Chappell, 
and  she  having  resigned,  Mrs.  Robert  Carter  was  elected  presi- 
dent. At  the  close  of  the  War  between  the  States,  the  Aid 
Society,  having  no  further  duties  to  perform  (Mrs.  Carter  still 
being  president,  and  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford  secretary),  was 
merged  into  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus,  and  this 
took  place  at  the  meeting  called  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Tyler, 
in  1866,  as  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  statement.  The  ladies 
present  at  the  meeting  were  memliers  of  the  Aid  Society,  and 
they,  with  the  other  members  of  the  Aid  Society,  constituted 
the  first  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus.  In  addition  to 
names  hereinbefore  set  out,  this  Memorial  Association,  as  suc- 
cessor to  the  Aid  Society,  was  composed  of  Mrs.  George  W. 
Woodruff',  Mrs.  Henry  L.  Benning,  Mrs.  John  A.  Jones,  Mrs. 
R.  R.  Goetchius,  Mrs.  L.  T.  Downing,  Mrs.  John  A.  Urquhart 
(who  was  first  secretary  of  the  Aid  Society),  Miss  Anna  Ben- 
nett, Miss  Anna  Tyler,  Miss  Mary  Tyler,  Miss  Emma  Tyler, 
Mrs.  John  Tyler,  Mrs.  Anne  Shepherd,  Miss  Mary  Eliza  Ruther- 
ford, Mrs.  L.  E.  Carnes,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Hodges,  Mrs.  Seaborn 
Jones,  Miss  Mary  Hodges,  Mrs.  David  Hudson,  Mrs.  M.  A. 
Patten  (who  was  treasurer  of  the  Aid  Society  and  afterwards 
treasurer  of  the  Memorial  Association),  Mrs.  R.  B.  Murdoch, 
Mrs.  Laura  Beecher  Comer,  Mrs.  R.  H.  Greene,  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Allen,  Mrs.  John  E.  Davis,  Mrs.  John  D.  Carter,  Miss  Harriet 
Torrence,  Miss  Matilda  Torrence,  Mrs.  Brad.  Chapman,  Miss 
Anna  Forsyth,  Mrs.  F.  O.  Ticknor. 

The  above  list  does  not  include  all  members. 


MRS.    MARTIN  S   STATEMENT. 

The  following  is  the  statement  of  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Ware  Martin, 
as  to  the  origin  of  Memorial  Day  : 

Mrs.  Martin  states  that  she  is  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Robert 
A.  Ware,  who  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Soldiers' 
Aid  Society  of  Columbus,  Georgia,  and  later  of  the  Memorial 


20 

Association.  That  in  1865-66  she  was  not  a  resident  of 
Columbus,  Georgia,  but  a  frequent  visitor  here  to  her  mother's 
family,  and  one  of  her  especial  friends  in  this  city  was  Miss 
Lizzie  Rutherford,  afterwards  Mrs.  Roswell  Ellis;  that  sometime 
in  January,  1866,  to  the  best  of  her  recollection,  she  was  on  a 
visit  to  Columbus;  that  she  had  been  raised  in  Columbus  and 
had  spent  her  girlhood  and  young  ladyhood  in  Columbus,  and  ' 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  ladies  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society, 
and  especially  with  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford,  who  was  among 
her  dearest  friends.  That  during  her  visit,  as  aforesaid,  in 
January,  1866,  in  Columbus,  in  the  afternoon.  Miss  Rutherford 
called  by  her  home  and  requested  her  to  accompany  her  to  the 
cemetery  (now  Linnwood  cemetery),  stating  that  she  was  going 
out  for  the  purpose  of  joining  other  ladies  and  doing  some  work 
in  looking  after  the  graves  of  soldiers  who  had  died  in  the 
hospital  in  Columbus,  and  had  been  buried  under  the  direction 
of  the  Aid  Society;  that  she  went  with  Miss  Rutherford  and  the 
afternoon  was  spent  in  company  with  other  ladies  in  looking 
after  the  graves  as  aforesaid.  On  returning  from  the  cemetery. 
Miss  Rutherford  and  herself,  while  alone,  passing  along  what  is 
now  Fourth  avenue,  between  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  streets, 
in  Columbus,  Georgia,  were  in  conversation  about  the  work 
which  the  ladies  had  been  doing  at  the  cemetery  that  afternoon. 
Miss  Rutherford  remarked  to  her  that  she  had  just  been  reading 
a  very  pretty  story  in  which  the  writer  had  told  of  a  lieautiful 
custom  among  the  Germans  of  decorating  the  graves  of  their 
friends  on  a  special  day  in  the  year,  and  she  (Miss  Rutherford) 
stated  that  she  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  for  the  ladies  of 
the  Aid  Society  to  organize  and  continue,  as  a  society,  for  the 
purpose  of  adopting  a  custom  of  this  kind,  and  set  apart  some 
particular  day  for  caring  for  and  decorating  the  graves  of  all 
soldiers  buried  at  the  cemetery.  Mrs.  Martin  says  that  she 
replied  to  the  suggestion  by  saying  that  she  thought  it  an 
excellent  idea.  At  this  point  they  had  reached  the  corner  of 
Fourth  avenue  (formerly  Forsyth  street),  and  Fourteenth  street 
(formerly  Franklin  street),  and  met  coming  up  Fourteenth 
street  Mrs.  John  A.  Jones,  the  widow  of  Colonel  John  A.  Jones, 
who  fell  at  Gettysburg,  and  she  (Mrs.  Martin)  stated  to  Miss 
Rutherford  that  there  was  Mrs.  .Jones,  and  as  Mrs.  J.  was  a 
member  of  the  Ladies  Aid  Society,  suggested  that  she  talk  with 
her  upon  the  subject.  She  did  so,  in  my  presence.  Mrs.  Jones 
replied  that  she  thought  the  idea  an  excellent  one,  and  Miss 
Rutherford  stated  that  as  she  had  to  call  a  meeting  of  the 
Society,  as  Secretary,  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  certain 


21 

personal  property  belonging  thereto,  that  she  thought  that 
would  be  a  proper  time  to  bring  the  matter  up.  Mrs.  Jones 
concurred  Avith  her  and  suggested  that  she  talk  with  Mrs.  Robert 
Carter,  who  was  president  of  the  Aid  Society. 

Mrs.  Martin  states  that  she  afterwards  learned  that  the  Ger- 
man story,  referred  to  by  Miss  Rutherford,  was  the  Initials,  and 
she  states  further  that  as  a  result  of  this  suggestion  of  Miss 
Rutherford,  the  ladies  of  the  Aid  Society  did  subsequently 
meet  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  John  Tyler,  which  at  that  time 
was  on  the  corner  of  Fourth  avenue  and  Fourteenth  street,  and 
located  exactly  where  this  accidental  conversation  took  place 
between  Miss  Rutherford  and  Mrs.  Jones;  that  her  mother, 
Mrs.  Robert  A.  Ware,  was  present  at  that  meeting,  and  out  of 
it  grew  the  establishment  of  Memorial  Day  for  the  South. 

Mrs.  Martin  states  that  she  removed  to  Columbus,  from  her 
home  near  Greenville,  Georgia,  in  the  3^ear  1866,  and  has 
resided  in  Columbus  since  that  time,  and  has  been  Secretary  of 
the  Memorial  Association  since  the  year  1874.  That  she  has 
repeatedly  lieen  told  by  her  mother,  prior  to  her  death  in  1894, 
that  Miss  T^izzie  Rutherford  originated  the  idea  of  Memorial 
Day,  and  that  she  knows,  of  her  own  knowledge,  that  this  has 
been  accepted  as  a  fact  by  the  ladies  of  the  Memorial  Associa- 
tion of  Columbus  since  the  organization  of  the  Association. 


GEORGIA,  IMuscogee  County: 

In  person  appeared  Mrs.  Jane  E.  Ware  Martin  who,  on  oath,  says  that 
slie  has  read  the  foregoing  statement,  and  knows  the  contents  thereof, 
and  that  the  facts  stated  tlierein  are  true,  except  as  to  such  as  are  stated 
on  information  and  belief,  and  these  she  believes  to  be  true. 

Mrs.  jane  E.  WARE  MARTIN. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  23d  day  of  March,  1898. 

[Seal.]  L.  H.  CHAPPELL,  Notary  Public. 


Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Woolfolk  states  as  follows  as  to  her  knowledge 
of  the  origin  of  Memorial  Day  : 

Columbus,  Ga.,  March  18,  1898. 
I  was  a  member  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  which  was 
organized  by  certain  of  the  ladies  of  Columbus  during  the 
Civil  War  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  soldiers.  After  the 
war  there  was  a  sentiment  among  the  members  of  this  Society 
to  continue  the  organization  as  a  Memorial  Association,  to 
commemorate  the  brave  deeds  of  the  Confederate  soldiers.  In 
the  spring  of  1866  a  call  was  published  for  the  ladies  to  meet 


22 

at  the  home  of  Mrs.  John  Tyler,  now  the  corner  of  Fourth 
avenue  and  Fourteenth  street,  formerly  Forsyth  and  Franklin 
streets.  In  response  to  this  call  there  were  present  Mrs.  Robert 
Carter,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Ware,  Mrs.  Wm.  Woolfolk,  Mrs.  J.  M, 
McAllister,  Mrs.  Chas.  J.  Williams,  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter  and 
Mrs.  M.  A.   Patten. 

This  meeting  organized  the  Toadies'  Memorial  Association  of 
Columbus,  Georgia,  and  elected  as  President  Mrs.  Robert 
Carter;  First  Vice-President,  Mrs.  Robert  A.  Ware;  Second 
Vice-President,  Mrs.  J,  M.  McAllister;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  M.  A. 
Patten;  and  Secretary,  Mrs.  Chas.   J.  Williams. 

All  the  ladies  who  had  been  members  of  the  Ladies'  Aid 
Society,  and  other  ladies  of  Columbus,  at  once  became  members. 

The  object  of  this  Association  was  to  set  apart  some  one  day 
in  each  year  for  specially  caring  for  the  soldiers'  graves  and 
decorating  them  with  flowers.  Many  of  the  soldiers  buried  at 
the  cemetery  (now  Linnwood),  had  died  in  the  hospital  in 
Columbus,  which  was  under  the  care  of  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society, 
and  tlie  ladies  had  already  been  giving  attention  to  their  graves. 
Members  of  this  Aid  Society,  of  which  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford 
was  an  active  member,  had  been  devoting  much  time  to  the 
work  of  looking  after  these  graves,  and  in  the  spring  of  1866, 
when  this  sentiment  had  become  so  general  of  making  perma- 
nent the  idea  of  a  memorial,  the  above  meeting  was  held,  l)ut 
no  day  for  Memorial  Day  was  then  fixed.  A  few  days  after 
the  meeting,  several  of  the  ladies,  while  at  work  at  the  cemetery, 
caring  for  the  graves,  discussed  the  suVjject  of  a  day.  I  was 
among  the  number,  and  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford  suggested  April 
26th  of  each  year  as  a  suitable  day,  and  it  was  so  decided. 
Mrs.  Chas.  J.  Williams,  as  Secretary  of  the  first  Memorial 
Association,  had  been  requested  to  address  a  letter  to  the  ladies 
of  other  Southern  towns  and  cities  requesting  them  to  unite 
with  the  ladies  of  Columbus,  and  after  the  day  had  been  thus 
determined  upon,  Mrs.  Williams  wrote  the  letter. 

The  Association  elected  Col.  James  M.  Ramsey  as  its  first 
orator,  and  the  26th  of  April,  1866,  was  duly  celebrated,  the 
exercises  taking  place  in  St.  Luke  Methodist  church.  I  cannot 
say  who  originated  the  idea  of  Memorial  Day.  At  the  time 
the  meeting  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Tyler  there  was 
a  general  sentiment  upon  the  subject  among  the  ladies  of  the 
Ladies'  Aid  Society.  It  has  always  been  understood  by  the 
members  of  the  Memorial  Association  that  Miss  Lizzie  Ruther- 
ford suggested  the  idea.  Of  this,  I  am  not  able  to  speak  of  my 
own  knowledge. 


23 

GEORGIA,  Muscogee  County : 

Personally  appeared  Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Woolfolk  who,  on  oath,  says  she 
has  read  the  foregoing  statement  and  that  she  knows  the  contents 
thereof,  and  the  facts  therein  stated  are  true,  except  so  much  thereof  as 
is  stated  on  information  and  belief,  and  this  she  believes  to  be  true. 

Mrs.  Wm.  G.  WOOLFOLK. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  March  23d,  1898. 

[Seal.]  F.  M.  LAND,  Notary  Public,  Muscogee  County,  Ga. 


STATEMENT    OF    MRS.     CLARA    M.     DEXTER     AS    TO    THE    ORIGIN    OF 
MEMORIAL     DAY. 

Mrs.  Dexter  states  that  she  was  one  of  tlie  original  members 
of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  which  was  organized  in  Columbus, 
Ga. ,  in  1861;  that  soldiers  who  were  cared  for  by  this  Society, 
who  died  while  under  its  care,  were  buried  in  Linnwood  cem- 
etery, and  one  lot  is  known  as  the  upper  lot,  commonly  called 
"Columbus  Guards'  Lot,"  and  the  other  the  lower  lot,  com- 
monly called  "City  Light  Gviards'  Lot."  She  was  the  chair- 
man of  the  conmiittee  having  in  charge  this  lower  lot.  The 
ladies  of  the  Society,  after  the  war  closed,  continued  to  take 
care  of  and  look  after  the  graves  of  these  soldiers.  Miss  Lizzie 
Rutherford  was  one  of  the  members  of  this  Society,  and,  in 
common  with  other  ladies,  was  active  in  the  work.  Mrs.  Dexter 
says  that  she  has  read  the  statement  of  Mrs.  William  G.  Wool- 
folk,  dated  March  18th,  1898,  and  giving  an  account  of  her 
remembrance  of  the  origin  of  Memorial  Day,  and  that  this 
statement  of  Mrs.  Woolfolk  is  substantially  correct;  that  she 
(Mrs.  Dexter)  was  present  at  the  meeting  at  the  residence  of 
Mrs.  John  Tyler,  and  the  account  of  how  Memorial  Day  orig- 
inated, as  given  by  Mrs.  Woolfolk,  is  correct;  that  the  President 
of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  when  organized  in  1861,  was  Mrs. 
A.  H,  Chappell,  who  resigned  shortly  thereafter,  and  Mrs. 
Robert  Carter  was  elected  in  her  place.  Mrs.  Robert  Carter 
continued  as  President  until  the  Aid  Society  was  merged 
into  the  Memorial  Association,  and  when  this  was  done  Mrs. 
Carter  was  elected  President  of  the  Memorial  Association,  and 
remained  so  until  her  death,  in  January,  1896.  Mrs.  Louis  F. 
Garrard  was  elected  her  successor,  and  is  now  the  President  of 
said  Association.  In  addition  to  the  facts  as  set  forth  in  the 
statement  of  Mrs.  Woolfolk,  Mrs.  Dexter  says  that  she  is  satis- 
fied in  her  own  mind  that  the  idea  of  Memorial  Day  was  sug- 
gested by  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford,  and  that  the  letter  authorized 
to  be  sent  out  by  the  Memorial  Association  through  Mrs.  Charles 
J.  Williams,  Corresponding  Secretary,  was  composed  by  Mrs. 


24 

Williams,  and  that  both  ladies  were  very  active  in  the  work  of 
the  Memorial  Association  as  long  as  they  were  in  life,  and  in 
recognition  of  their  services  the  Memorial  Association  of  Colum- 
bus, in  1892,  placed  head-stones  at  their  graves  similar  to  those 
placed  by  the  Association  at  the  graves  of  the  soldiers,  and  on 
these  head-stones  the  Association  ascribed  to  Miss  Rutherford 
the  honor  of  originating  the  idea  of  Memorial  Day,  and  to 
Mrs.  Williams  the  honor  of  having  been  a  faithful  co-worker 
with  the  ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus  in 
perpetuating  the  custom.  Mrs.  Dexter  states  that  she  and  Mrs. 
William  G.  Woolfolk  are  the  only  survivors  of  the  ladies  who 
met  at  the  residence  of  Mrs.  John  Tyler,  in  the  spring  of  1866, 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  Memorial  Association  and 
establishing  Memorial  Day. 

GEORGIA,  Muscogee  County : 

Personally  appeared  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter,  who,  on  oath,  says  she  has 
read  the  foregoing  statement  and  knows  the  contents  thereof,  and  the 
facts  therein  stated  are  true,  except  such  as  are  stated  on  information 
and  belief,  and  these  she  believes  to  be  true. 

CLARA  M.  DEXTER. 
Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  25th  day  of  March,  1898. 
[Seal.]  JAMES  G.  MOON, 

Notary  Public  and  Ex  Officio  J.  P.,  Muscogee  Co.,  Ga. 


ra' 


THE    TEXT    OF    MRS.    AVILLIAMS     LETTER. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  original  letter  of  Mrs.  Charles 
J.  Williams,  as  Secretary  of  Columbus  Memorial  Association, 
to  the  press  and  ladies  of  the  South  regarding  Memorial  Day, 
taken  from  the  Columbus  (Ga.)  Times: 

"Columbus,  Ga.,  March  12,  1866 — Mesars.  Editors:  The  ladies 
are  now  and  have  been  for  several  days  engaged  in  the  sad  but 
pleasant  duty  of  ornamenting  and  improving  that  portion  of 
the  city  cemetery  sacred  to  the  memory  of  our  gallant  Confed- 
erate dead,  but  we  feel  it  is  an  unfinished  work  unless  a  day  be 
set  apart  annually  for  its  especial  attention.  We  cannot  raise 
monumental  shafts  and  inscribe  thereon  their  many  deeds  of 
heroism,  but  we  can  keep  alive  the  memory  of  the  debt  we  owe 
them  by  dedicating,  at  least  one  day  in  each  year,  to  embel- 
lishing their  humble  graves  with  flowers.  Therefore,  we  beg 
the  assistance  of  the  press  and  the  ladies  tliroughout  the  South 
to  aid  us  in  the  effort  to  set  apart  a  certain  day  to  be  observed, 
from  the  Potomac  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  be  handed  down 


25 

through  time  as  a  religious  custom  of  the  South,  to  wreathe 
the  graves  of  our  martyred  dead  with  flowers;  and  Ave  propose 
the  26th  day  of  April  as  the  day.  Let  every  city,  town  and 
village  join  in  the  pleasant  duty.  Let  all  alike  be  remembered, 
from  the  heroes  of  Manasas  to  those  who  expired  amid  the 
death  throes  of  our  hallowed  cause.  We'll  crown  alike  the 
honored  resting  places  of  the  immortal  Jackson  in  Virginia, 
Johnston  at  Shiloh,  Cleburne  in  Tennessee  and  the  host  of 
gallant  privates  who  adorned  our  ranks.  All  did  their  duty, 
and  to  all  we  owe  our  gratitude.  Let  the  soldiers'  graves,  for 
that  day  at  least,  be  the  Southern  Mecca  to  whose  shrine  her 
sorrowing  women,  like  pilgrims,  may  annually  bring  their 
grateful  hearts  and  floral  offerings.  And  when  we  remember 
the  thousands  who  were  buried  'with  their  martial  cloaks 
around  them,'  without  Christian  ceremony  of  interment,  we 
would  invoke  the  aid  of  the  most  thrilling  eloquence  through- 
out the  land  to  inaugurate  this  custom  by  delivering,  on  the 
appointed  day  this  year,  a  eulogy  on  the  unburied  dead  of  our 
glorious  Southern  army.  They  died  for  their  country. 
Whether  their  country  had  or  had  not  the  right  to  demand  the 
sacrifice,  is  no  longer  a  ciuestion  of  discussion.  We  leave  that 
for  nations  to  decide  in  future.  That  it  was  demanded — that 
they  fought  nobly,  and  fell  holy  sacrifices  upon  their  country's 
altar,  and  are  entitled  to  their  country's  gratitude,  none  will 
deny. 

"The  proud  banner  under  which  they  rallied  in  defense  of" 
the  holiest  and  noblest  cause  for  which  heroes  fought,  or  trust- 
ing women  prayed,  has  been  furled  forever.  The  country  for 
which  they  suffered  and  died  has  now  no  name  or  place  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  Legislative  enactment  may  not  be 
made  to  do  honor  to  their  memories,  but  the  veriest  radical 
that  ever  traced  his  genealogy  back  to  the  deck  of  the  May- 
flower, could  not  refuse  us  the  simple  privilege  of  paying  honor 
to  those  who  died  defending  the  life,  honor  and  happiness  of 
the  Southern  women." 


INTRODUCTORY   SPEECH   OF  Mr.    ROBERT  HOWARD 

ON  MEMORIAL  DAY,   APRIL  26,    1898,   PRESENTING  THE 


ORATOR  OF  THE  DAY. 


Ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  A 
fearless  defender  of,  and  a  baptized  believer  in,  the  righteousness 
of  our  more  than  righteous  Lost  Cause,  needs  no  introduction 
to  a  Columbus  audience,  for  nowhere  in  this  broad,  sunny  land 


26 

of  "Dear  Old  Dixie"  does  he  more  live  in  the  hearts  of  gallant 
men  and  fair,  pure  women,  than  here  in  the  home  of  our 
grand,  immortal  "Old  Rock"  (General  Henry  L.  Benning), 
and  of  those  Imttle-scarred  and  war-worn  veterans  of  many  a 
hard  fought  field,  and  the  home  of  our  guardian  angels,  Lizzie 
Rutherford  Ellis,  Mary  Ann  ^^^illiams,  Evelyn  Carter,  Martha 
Ann  Patten,  their  noble  and  beloved  survivors  and  co-workers. 
Though  there  has  been  a  lapse  of  thirty-three  years  since  the 
flag  of  the  Confederacy  went  down,  we  turn  to-day  to  the  grand 
old  emblem,  and  the  hallowed  cause  it  represented,  with  the 
same  deathless  love  with  which  we  hailed  its  glorious  birth 
when  we  vinfurled  it  to  the  breezes  of  high  heaven,  and  followed 
its  spotless  folds  through  its  brief  and  brilliant  life.  So  long 
as  the  eagle  shall  wing  its  lofty  flight  to  Alpine  heights;  so  long 
as  the  babbling  brooks  shall  mingle  their  crystal  waters  with 
the  mighty  rivers,  in  their  clear  winding  to  the  sea;  so  long  as 
the  breeze  shall  beat  the  billows'  foam;  so  long  as  true  man- 
hood and  noble  womanhood  shall  inspire  pure  patriotism  and 
exalted  citizenship — so  long  will  Dixie's  brave  sons  and  peerless 
daughters  perpetuate  and  religiously  observe  this,  our  Memo- 
rial Day,  in  everlasting  memory  and  love  of  our  Confederate 
dead.  On  each  sad  anniversary,  with  earth's  sweetest,  fairest 
flowers  we  will  wreathe  the  graves  of  our  immortal  heroes,  who 
went  down  to  glorious  death  amid  the  shock  and  carnage  of 
battle  in  the  heroic  discharge  of  righteous  duty. 

Such  a  defender  and  believer  as  already  alluded  to,  you  have 
in  your  eloquent  orator  of  the  day,  and  well  do  I  know  that, 
but  for  his  youthful  years  at  the  time,  he  too  would  have  stood 
under  the  matchless  Lee,  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  his  two 
gallant  brothers,  who  sealed  with  their  devotion  to  their 
country's  cause  their  heart's  last,  best  blood.  And  now, 
ladies  and  gentleman,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  presenting  to  you 
our  honored  fellow-citizen,  the  orator  of  the  day,  Mr.  Henry 
R.  Goetchius. 


The  following  is  the  oration  delivered  on  April,  26th,  1898, 
in  celebration  of  Memorial  Day,  and  in  dedicating  the  Columbus 
(Ga.)  Chapter  of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  as 
the  Lizzie  Rutherford,  adopted  in  honor  of  the  originator  of 
the  idea  of  Memorial  Day  : 


27 
THE    MEMORIAL    ORATION 

DELIVERED     AT     -SPRINGER     OPERA     HOUSE,    COLUMBUS,    GEORGIA, 
APRIL    26,  1898,  BY  HON.  HENRY  R.  GOETCHIUS. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  On  the  26th  day  of  June,  1862, 
which  was  one  of  fie  famous  days  when  there  was  heavy  fight- 
ing about  Richmond,  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy,  a  young 
soldier  charging  where  the  fight  was  thickest,  was  struck  by  a 
minnie  ball.  He  fell,  and  the  Colonel  of  his  regiment  being 
near,  ran  to  him,  asking:  "Are  you  hurt?"  He  replied:  "Yes, 
through  the  heart.  Tell  my  mother  I  have  fallen  in  the  discharge 
of  my  duty,  and  I  die  happy."  A  moment  later  his  spirit 
lifted  itself  above  the  scene  of  smoke  and  battle,  and  blood  and 
carnage,  and  took  its  flight  to  the  Great  Beyond.  That  young 
soldier  was  a  member  of  the  Columbus  Guards,  of  your  city. 

Two  years  later,  in  the  memorable  siege  of  Petersburg,  a  line 
of  Confederate  troops  of  Gen.  Wright's  brigade  were  charging 
through  a  wooded  space  and  across  an  open  field,  for  the  purpose 
of  forcing  the  enemy,  a  part  of  Hancock's  command,  back  to 
their  works.  Just  before  this  charge,  and  while  the  Confeder- 
ates were  calmly  waiting,  in  order  to  give  them  a  close  volley 
and  then  the  charge,  a  young  soldier,  gazing  intently  upon  the 
advancing  blue  line,  remarked  to  his  comrade,  "  Those  men  have 
nothing  at  stake,  while  we  have  all  to  lose,  and  we  must  drive 
them  back."  Hardly  had  he  spoken  when  there  came  a  roar 
of  musketry,  the  famous  yell  of  Southern  soldiers  and  the  Avild 
rush  which  drove  the  enemy  out  of  the  woods  and  back  into 
their  works  and  then  out  of  them.  As  the  young  hero  entered 
the  open,  in  this  fatal  charge,  a  rifle  ball  struck  him  in  the  breast 
and  his  comrade,  to  whom  he  had  just  before  spoken,  hearing 
the  dull,  sickening  thud  of  the  bullet,  had  only  time  to  turn 
and  see  the  young  soldier  sink  to  his  knees  and  then  to  the 
ground — dead,  with  a  smile  upon  his  face.  That  night  he  was 
buried  in  the  trenches.  The  young  soldier  was  a  member  of  the 
City  Light  Guards,  of  your  city.  These  two  men  were  types  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  private  Confederate  soldiers  who  fell 
in  defense  of  the  Lost  Cause. 

One  month  ago,  in  the  cabin  of  the  steamer  Olivette,  in  the 
port  of  Havana,  just  before  the  vessel  sailed  for  Key  West, 
there  was  gathered  a  group  of  Americans  to  say  farewell  and 
oxtend  a  floral  ofl"ering  to  the  brave  commander  of  the  ill  fated 
battleship  Maine.     Near  the  flowers  stood  the  Consul-General 


28 

of  the  United  States,  who  made  the  speech  of  presentation.  In 
response  thereto  the  commander  spoke  of  the  Consul-General  as 
the  personification  of  bravery  and  good  judgment,  and  added  : 
"The  United  States  has  no  better  representative  abroad  than 
gallant  Fitzhugh  Lee,  its  Consul-General  at  Havana."  The 
same  man  fought  bravely  for  the  South  through  the  great 
Civil  War,  and  was  one  of  the  most  gallant  of  her  cavalry 
leader?.     He  is  a  type  of  the  living  Confederate  veteran. 

All  honor  to  such  men,  be  they  living  or  be  they  dead.  The 
last  generation  of  the  North  called  them  traitors  and  rebels,  and 
now  seventy  millions  of  people,  without  regard  to  section  or 
party,  honor  the  living  traitors  and  are  beginning  to  do  justice 
to  the  heroic  dead. 

Surely  "truth  is  omnipotent  and  public  justice  certain?" 

This  leads  us  to  eni^uire  of  the  motive  which,  in  the  great 
War  between  the  States,  led  the  men  of  the  South  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  upon  the  altar  of  their  country,  or,  if  happily  they 
escaped  death,  to  again  be  willing  to  so  ably  and  patriotically 
serve  the  powers  against  which  they  once  had  fought.  That 
motive  was  patriotism,  the  loftiest  sentiment  for  which  the  human 
heart  can  beat,  save  love  of  God  and  truth. 

This  is  the  sentiment  which  prompts  to  a  love  of  country, 
without  which  there  can  be  no  human  happiness.  A  man  with- 
out a  country  to  love  is  a  man  without  home  and  loved  ones.  A 
man  without  a  flag  to  which  he  can  swear  allegiance  as  the 
emblem  of  his  country's  protecting  power,  is  a  man  without 
safety  to  his  life,  his  liberty  and  his  property. 

The  love  of  country  is  an  ennobling  sentiment.  It  prompts 
to  honor  and  to  deeds  of  heroism  and  imperishable  renown. 
"  Happy  are  they  who  have  for  the  sublime  and  permanent  basis 
of  their  glory  the  love  of  country  demonstrated  by  deeds."  By 
this  noble  sentiment  the  armies  of  Napoleon  lifted  the  eagles  of 
France  to  mingle  with  the  eagles  of  the  Alps,  and  the  French 
standards  were  made  to  flutter  in  the  shadow  of  the  pyramids. 
By  this  sentiment  Nelson,  through  the  mere  wave  of  a  signal 
banner,  inspired  the  British  seamen  with  splendid  courage  as 
they  moved  their  battle  ships  into  line  against  the  advancing 
fleet  of  France  and  Spain.  By  this  sentiment  Washington  was 
led  to  take  command  of  the  American  army  at  the  call  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  when  he  said  no  pecuniary  consideration 
could  induce  him  to  accept  such  arduous  labors. 

The  Spartans  taught  their  youth  that  love  of  country  was  a 


29 

sentiment  before  which  every  private  and  personal  feeling  should 
be  constrained  to  bow. 

When  the  great  statesman  of  England,  William  Pitt,  was  on 
his  death-bed,  the  news  of  the  victories  of  Bonaparte  at  Ulm 
and  Austerlitz  was  whispered  to  him.  He  lay  in  silence,  and  at 
last  exclaimed  in  feeble  voice,  "My  country.  Oh,  my  country!" 
These  were  the  last  words  which  escaped  the  lips  of  the  dying 
patriot. 

As  Hampden  fell  before  the  onslaught  of  Prince  Rupert,  in 
the  opening  of  the  civil  war  against  the  tyranny  of  Charles,  he 
exclaimed:   "  0,  God,  save  my  bleeding  country!" 

But  history  furnishes  no  sublimer  evidence  of  patriotism  and 
love  of  country  than  was  exhibited  by  the  noble  men  of  Avhom 
we  would  speak  to-day.  The  most  execrated  of  all  men,  by  his 
fellow-citizens  and  by  posterity,  is  he  who  betrays  his  country, 
and  the  most  honored  of  men  is  he  who  falls  a  blessed  martyr  to 
his  country's  cause.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  the  enemies  of 
the  South  to  charge  against  Southern  soldiers  the  infamous 
crime  of  rebellion,  and  they  were  branded  as  traitors.  At  the 
close  of  hostilities  the  President  of  the  Confederacy  was  thrown 
into  chains  and  into  prison,  to  be  made  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for 
the  sins  of  his  people,  and  it  was  intended  that  he  should  be 
hung.  Similar  steps  were  taken,  happily  not  consummated,  to 
incarcerate  the  leader  of  the  Confederate  armies.  Partaking  of 
this  bitter  and  revengeful  feeling,  the  historians  of  the  North 
have  written  and  printed  and  have  industriously  circulated  his- 
tories containing  these  charges.  Their  books  are  to-day  sold  in 
your  cities,  admitted  into  your  homes,  and  taught  in  your  schools. 
In  your  own  State  of  Georgia,  and  until  recently  in  this  patriotic 
city,  which  has  contributed  so  much  of  blood  and  treasure  and 
blessed  memory  to  the  Southern  cause,  the  children  are  being 
allowed  to  understand  that  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  was  the 
cause  of  traitors,  and  that  those  who  fought  for  it  were  rebels. 
Can  these  things  be  and  we  remain  silent? 

There  are  those  in  the  South  who  say,  "Let  the  dead  past 
bury  the  dead."  Such  are  not  worthy  the  blood  which  courses 
through  their  veins,  and,  thank  God,  they  are  few.  It  should 
be  the  solemn  duty  of  every  true  son  and  daughter  of  the  South 
to  refute  the  slander  of  "rebel  and  traitors."  The  cause  of  the 
Southern  States  was  a  righteous  cause,  and  those  who  fought 
therefor  and  those  who  fell  in  its  defense  were  patriots.  The 
people  of  this  great  section  so  felt  when  the  alternative  came  to 


30 

choose  between  their  native  States  and  the  Federal  power.  Had 
they  tamely  and  willingly  submitted  to  the  assumption  of  power, 
our  great  Republic  would  to-day  be  a  despotism  compared  to 
which  Russia  would  be  a  land  of  liberty.  But  they  did  not 
submit,  and,  deeming  their  course  a  proper  one,  they  sealed 
their  sincerity  with  the  richest  treasure  ever  offered  and  the 
noblest  holocaust  ever  consumed  upon  the  altar  of  country. 

For  what  did  the  South  fight?  It  was  not  for  the  institution 
of  slavery.  That  was  a  mere  incident  in  the  great  drama.  Let 
the  true  answer  ring  from  the  lips  of  every  Memorial  orator  for 
generations  to  come.  Let  it  be  burned  into  the  page  of  living 
history,  and  let  the  present  and  the  future  ever  hold  it  as  a 
sacred  truth.  She  fought  to  avert  encroachments  of  usurped 
power,  and  to  preserve  the  rights  of  States  and  human  liberty. 
She  fought  for  the  spirit  of  local  self-government,  which  is  always 
the  life-blood  of  liberty.  I  know  there  are  some  who  tell  us 
that  we  now  have  no  States  rights.  I  will  admit  that  by  reason 
of  the  changed  conditions  of  the  times,  the  methods  of  trans- 
portation and  communication,  that  geographical  State  lines  are 
practically  obliterated,  but  I  assert  that  the  right  of  local  self- 
government  in  and  by  the  individual  States  of  this  Union  is  not 
only  more  marked  and  well  defined  than  it  was  in  1860,  but  it 
is  on  foundations  as  everlasting  as  are  the  principles  of  which 
our  national  and  State  constitutions  are  formed.  The  fight  was, 
therefore,  not  in  vain.  Was  our  cause  truly  a  Lost  Cause  ?  Let 
the  answer  come  even  from  the  lips  of  the  former  enemies  of  the 
South;  an  answer  made  to-day,  after  the  fires  of  hate  have 
sunken  to  embers  and  the  generations  which  forced  this  cruel 
wrong  have  been  called  to  another  world.  Hear  the  answer 
from  the  learned  and  the  eloquent  of  the  North. 

A  few  weeks  ago  Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews,  president  of 
Brown  University,  a  leading  institution  of  learning  in  a  New 
England  State,  in  a  lecture  delivered  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans 
upon  the  life  and  character  of  the  General  of  the  Confederate 
armies,  uttered  this  language : 

"People  are  prone  to  allude  to  all  Lee  fought  for  as  the  'Lost  Cause.' 
Yet,  like  Oliver  Cromwell,  Lee  has  accomplished  what  he  fought  for, 
and  more  than  could  have  been  accomplished  had  lie  been  victorious. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  we  find  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  L^nited  States 
deciding  the  status  of  individual  States,  and  the  result  is  found  to  be 
that  while  the  Union  is  declared  to  be  indestructible,  each  State  is 
regarded  as  an  indestructible  unit  of  that  nation.  Who  would  dare  to 
wipe  out  to-day  a  State's  individuality?  and  do   we  not  find  to-day, 


31 

instead  of  centralized  power  in  Congi-ess  adjudicating  things  pertaining 
to  the  States,  the  States  themselves  settling  these  matters? 

"Inasmuch  as  the  war  brought  out  these  utterances  with  regard  to  the 
States  of  tlie  Union  upon  the  matters  then  in  question,  who  can  say  that 
Lee  fought  in  vain?" 

Had  President  Andrews  thus  spoken  or  written  within  five 
years  after  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  armies  at  Appo- 
mattox, he  would  have  immediately  been  discharged  as  unfit  to 
instruct  students  of  his  University,  and  doubtless  would  have 
been  arrested  and  tried  for  sedition. 

He  speaks  here,  however,  what  time  has  forced  upon  him  as  an 
acknowledged  truth.  What  the  civilized  world  has  long  since 
accepted  as  true,  and  what  history  will  record  as  true.  What  a 
spectacle,  my  countrymen !  An  instructor  of  New  England 
youth,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  of  New  England  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  preaching  to  the  world  that  the  principles 
for  which  Lee  fought  are  essential  to  the  welfare  and  existence 
of  constitutional  government  as  established  by  the  fathers. 

Surely,  "truth  is  omnipotent  and  public  justice  certain." 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  spark  of  this  great  Civil  War 
was  kindled  in  the  bosom  of  New  England,  and  from  thence 
fanned  into  flame  by  the  political  demagogues  of  the  North. 

But  hear  again  what  this  man,  the  cultured  and  thoughtful 
New  Englander,  says  of  the  great  Confederate  soldier  who  was 
but  the  type  of  the  men  whom  he  led  through  the  battles  of 
Virginia.  Says  Dr.  Andrews  in  the  same  lecture,  speaking  of 
General  Lee : 

"Great  as  were  the  achievements  of  this  man  as  a  General,  incom- 
parably greater  than  his  military  genius  was  his  grand  and  almost  un- 
matched moral  character.  His  unselfishness,  his  patience,  his  love  of 
justice,  all  his  attributes  conspired  to  make  him  the  embodiment  of 
nobility.  He  held  with  Hamilton  that  there  was  nothing  on  earth  great 
but  man,  and  nothing  greater  in  man  than  mind,  and,  indeed,  he  went 
further  than  the  philosopher,  holding  that  there  was  nothing  great  in 
mind  except  devotion  to  trust  and  duty." 

Thus  comes  the  testimony  and  so  grand  was  the  character 
here  described,  the  matchless  attributes  were  reflected  in  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  the  men  who  followed  him. 

Young  men  and  women  of  Columbus,  let  me  say  to  you  and 
through  you  to  all  young  men  and  women  of  our  Southern 
country,  to  blot  out  from  your  minds  the  base  teachings  that  the 
blood  which  begot  you  was  false  to  its  country.  And  to  you  few 
who  remain  of  the  older  generation,  who  saw  this  devotion  to 
duty,  let  me   say   to  you  to   honor  the  dead  as  an  incentive  to 


82 

yourselves  and  to  your  children.  You,  who  had  the  honor  of 
participating  in  the  history  of  that  period  prove  yourselves 
worthy  of  that  honor  by  teaching  such  history  to  those  who  are 
to  come  after  you.  Let  there  be  reform  in  your  school  histories. 
Permit  no  compromise  of  the  truth,  but  let  the  statement  of  the 
facts  be  manly  and  fearless.  Beyond  what  has  been  said,  I  will 
not  endeavor  on  this  occasion  to  speak  in  detail  of  the  causes  of 
the  war  between  the  states  ;  nor  shall  I  enter  into  an  historical 
discussion  of  the  great  events  which  led  up  to  the  struggle : 
neither  is  it  my  purpose  to  portray  the  movements  of  contending 
armies  and  an  embattled  field :  nor  shall  I  speak  of  those  terri- 
ble days  in  which  reason  Avas  affrighted  from  her  seat  and  giddy 
prejudice  took  the  rein  :  when  the  wheels  of  society  were  set  in 
conflagration  by  their  own  motion:  when  many  of  our  people 
were  tried  and  condemned  without  being  judicially  heard,  and 
when  conclusions  were  drawn  from  passion  that  should  have  been 
founded  in  proof.  Let  us  not  draw  the  veil  which  hides  from 
view  those  terrible  years  of  war  and  desolation.  Many  in  the 
sourd  of  my  voice  will  remember  them.  Then  we  could  have 
exclaimed  in  the  voice  of  the  prophet  of  old  : 

"We  are  orphans  and  fatherless  and  our  mothers  are  widows. 
"Our  necks  are  under  persecution. 
"We  labor  and  have  no  rest. 

"Servants  have  ruled  over  us.  There  is  none  to  deliver  us  out  of  their 
hands." 

We  are  not  here  to-day  to  recall  these  sad  scenes  but  only  to 
speak  in  honor  of  the  dead,  to  point  to  the  truth  and  justice  of 
their  cause  and  our  cause,  and  to  lay  bright  and  tender  flowers 
upon  their  graves. 

Thirty-two  years  ago,  when  the  noble  women  of  this  city 
realized  that  the  cause  for  which  their  loved  ones  had  fought  and 
died,  and  for  which  they  had  suff"ered,  was  but  a  "  pathetic  in- 
heritance, in  which  all  the  grandeur  and  the  glory  of  the  dead 
and  the  living,  who  survived,  was  to  become  only  a  sorrowing 
memory,"  they  established  this  beautiful  custom  of  Memorial 
Day,  this  annual  tribute  of  eulogy  and  flowers.  Eulogy  and 
flowers  for  great  deeds  which  cannot  die,  but  which  with  sun 
and  moon  renew  their  youth. 

The  eulogy  was  an  inspiration  from  the  cultivated  and  patri- 
otic Greek,  for  it  was  a  law  of  the  Athenians,  that  he  who  re- 
ceived his  death  while  fighting  with  undaunted  courage  in  the 
front  of  the   battle,  should  have  an  annual  oration  spoken  in  his 


33 

honor.  The  bringing  of  the  flowers  was  an  inspiration  which 
came  into  the  heart  of  a  daughter  of  Columbus,  and  was  sug- 
gested to  her  from  the  custom  established  more  than  a  thousand 
years  ago  by  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  cus- 
tom of  annually  decorating  with  flowers  the  graves  of  departed 
loved  ones. 

This  day,  with  its  eulogy  and  its  flowers,  is  the  monument 
which  the  daughters  of  the  South  have  established  in  remem- 
brance of  Southern  valor  and  patriotism ;  a  monument  which 
will  endure  so  long  as  Southern  womanhood  is  pure  and  South- 
ern manhood  is  strong  ;  a  monument  which  tells  that  the  "mute 
tongue  of  the  granite  shaft  is  not  left  alone  to  speak  a  tribute 
to  their  memory  ;"  a  monument  more  enduring  than  this  granite, 
for  it  is  a  monument  of  sighs  from  human  hearts  and  flowers 
which  spring  from  earth:  sighs  which  link  us  with  immortality, 
and  flowers — 

"Those  lights  of  God 
That  through  the  sod 
Flash  upward  from  the  world  beneath, 
And  tell  us  in  each  subtle  hue 
That  life  renewed  is  passing  through 
Our  world,  again  to  seek  the  skies, 
Its  native  realm  of  Paradise." 

Sacred  is  the  duty  to  which  the  women  of  the  South  have 
consecrated  their  use,  for  they  keep  ever  green  in  the  hearts  of 
all  the  memory  of  the  departed. 

"The  people  for  whom  they  fought  were  crushed, 
The  hopes  in  which  they  trusted  were  shattered, 
The  flag  they  loved  no  more  guides  their  charging  lines. 
But  their  fame,  consigned  to  the  keeping  of  that  time  which. 
Happily  is  not  so  much  the  tomb  of  virtue  as  its  shrine. 
Shall  in  the  years  to  come  lire  modest  worth  to  noble  ends." 

And  to  you,  ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association,  you  few  sur- 
vivors of  that  gentle  band  who  established  Memorial  Day,  not 
only  for  the  South,  but  for  all  this  great  country  (for  the  North- 
ern States  have  adopted  the  custom  in  imitation  of  the  South), 
and  to  you,  daughters  of  these  Memorial  ladies,  living  and  dead — 
daughters  of  mothers  Avho  were  Trojans  in  courage,  Spartans  in 
fortitude,  and  Romans  in  faith  and  self-saciifice — I  commend  the 
keeping  of  this  custom.  In  this  sacred  duty  you  have  a  lofty 
example.  "It  was  the  women  of  the  Confederacy  whose  pious 
ministrations  to  the  wounded  soldiers  soothed  the  last  hours  of 
those  who  died  far  from  the  object  of  their  tenderest  love.     It 


34 

was  the  women  of  the  Confederacy  whose  domestic  labors  con- 
tributed so  much  to  supjDly  the  wants  of  their  defenders  in  the 
field,  and  whose  faith  in  the  Southern  cause  shone  a  guiding 
star  undimmed  by  the  darkest  clouds  of  war,  and  whose  forti- 
tude sustained  them  under  all  the  privations  to  which  they  were 
subjected."  Such  is  the  tribute  of  the  first  and  only  President 
of  the  Confederacy.  There  is  one  of  their  number  who  now 
sleeps  in  Linnwood  cemetery,  in  this  city.  Upon  her  grave  is 
this  inscription,  placed  there  by  the  ladies  of  the  Memorial 
Association  of  Columbus : 

"The  Soldiers'  Friend." 

"A  loving  tribute  to  our  co-worker," 

"In  her  patriotic  heart  sprang  the  thought  of  our 

Memorial  Day." 

The  legend  tells  what  she  was  and  what  she  did.  Who  dare 
invade  the  sanctity  of  the  thought  conveyed  by  these  words  ? 

Ladies  of  the  Columbus  Chapter  of  the  Georgia  Division  of 
the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  you  have  done  me  the  honor 
to  ask  that  I  to-day  consecrate  your  Chapter  under  the  honor- 
able name  which  has  been  selected  by  you  that  it  should  bear. 
It  is  the  name  inscribed  with  that  legend.  I  am  told  that  the 
object  of  your  Association  is  to  collect  records  and  incidents  of 
the  Confederate  war  and  preserve  the  truth  of  its  cause  and 
history,  perpetuate  the  memories  of  the  men  who  laid  down 
their  lives  in  that  struggle,  and  lay  before  the  rising  generation 
a  fair,  just  and  impartial  account  of  their  deeds.  To  this  patri- 
otic undertaking,  in  the  presence  of  this  assembled  company,  I 
now  dedicate  your  order  as  "Lizzie  Rutherford  Chapter  of 
THE  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy."  Guard  sacredly  your 
trust,  and  under  the  inspiration  of  that  name,  the  originator  of 
Memorial  Day,  preserve  the  memory  of  the  dead,  for  truly  has 
it  been  said  that  a  land  without  memories  is  a  land  without 
liberty.  Let  the  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretching  from 
every  battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  hearthstone 
all  over  our  Southern  land,  bind  our  hearts  to  loving  service  in 
honor  of  the  sainted  dead. 

"Let  not  their  glory  be  forgot 
While  Fame  her  record  keeps, 
Or  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot 
Where  valor  proudly  sleeps." 


35 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  Columbus  Enquirer-Sun 
of  May  1st,  1898,  and  gives  an  explanation  of  the  personal  refer- 
ences made  in  the  Memorial  Address  of  xVpril  26,  1898  : 

TOUCHING  REFERENCE  TO  TWO  GALLANT 
SOLDIERS. 

COLUMBUS    YOUNG   MEN    ARE    REFERRED    TO    BY    MR.   GOETCHIUS 

ONE    WAS    LIEUT.  JAMES  H.  AVARE,  OF  THE    COLUMBUS 

GUARDS,  AND  THE  OTHER  WILLIAM  E. 

GOETCHIUS,    OF    THE    CITY 

LIGHT  GUARDS. 

In  his  beautiful  address  on  Memorial  Day,  Mr.  Henry  R. 
Goetchius  made  reference  in  a  very  touching  manner  to  the 
death  of  two  young  soldiers  from  Columbus,  while  bravely 
charging  the  enemy — one  a  member  of  the  Columbus  Guards 
and  the  other  of  the  City  Light  Guards.  The  Enquirer-Sun 
understands  that  the  member  of  the  Columbus  Guards  referred 
to  was  James  H.  Ware,  while  the  young  soldier  from  the  City 
Light  Guards  was  William  Edward  Goetchius,  a  brother  to  Mr. 
Henry  R.  Goetchius.  The  following  appeared  in  the  Columbus 
Times,  June  28th: 

"The  Sun,  of  yesterday,  pubHshes  the  following  dispatch: 
"Richmond,  Va.,  June  27,  1862. — Dr.  E  A.  Ware:  Your  son  James 
was  killed  last  evening  in  gallantly  charging  the  enemy's  works.  His 
body  will  be  recovered,  if  possible.  His  last  words  to  his  Colonel  were: 
'Tell  my  mother  I  have  fallen  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty,  and  die 
happy.'     Dr.  Ellison  writes  particulars  to-day.  Roswell  Ellis." 

Captain  Roswell  Ellis  was  in  command  of  the  Columbus 
Guards,  and  was  afterwards  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Rutherford, 
who  originated  Memorial  Day. 

Adjutant  Ware  Avas  slain  near  Richmond,  Ya.  In  comment- 
ing on  the  dispatch  quoted  above,  the  Times  says : 

"Adjutant  Ware  was  connected  with  the  Thirty-fifth  Regiment,  Geor- 
gia Volunteers.  Mr.  Ware  was  a  native  of  our  city,  and  was  greatly 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  him.  In  his  death  our  community  and  the 
army  have  lost  a  young  man  of  great  promise." 

The  young  soldier  in  the  City  Light  Guai'ds,  William  Edward 
Goetchius,  of  this  city,  left  Oglethorpe  University,  at  Milledge- 
ville,  Ga.,  to  enter  the  army  as  soon  as  the  war  opened,  being  18 
years  of  age.  He  served  through  the  war  until  the  date  of  his 
death,  and  without  a  furlough,  fighting  in  all  the  heavy  battles 


B6 

in  Virginia  and  at  Gettysburg.  At  this  last  battle  he  saw  his 
oldest  brother,  John,  left  on  the  field  mortally  wounded.  He 
was  instantly  killed  in  a  charge  at  Petersburg,  June  22d,  1864. 
Mr.  G.  J.  Peacock,  of  this  city,  who  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
City  Light  Guards,  saw  him  fall.  His  body  was  buried  in  the 
trenches,  and  his  remains  were  never  re  lovered  Mr.  Peacock, 
in  speaking  of  him,  says  :  "He  combined  the  gentleness  of  a 
woman  with  the  courage  of  a  dauntless  cavalier." 


The  first  Memorial  address  ever  delivered  in  the  United  States 
in  honor  of  soldiers  who  fought  in  the  Civil  War,  was  delivered 
in  Columbus,  Georgia,  on  April  26th,  1866,  by  Hon.  J.  N. 
Ramsey,  now  deceased.  He  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  the 
city,  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  had  been  a  vt-teran  of  the  war, 
with  the  rank  of  Colonel.  The  address  was  delivered  in  St. 
Luke  Methodist  church,  a  historic  building,  which  has  recently 
been  removed  to  give  place  to  a  modern  structure. 


The  Columbus  Enquirer- Sun^  on  April  24th,  1898,  published 
the  following  list  of  orators  of  Memorial  Day : 

MEMORIAL    ORATORS. 

NAMES    OF    THOSE    WHO    HAVE    DELIVERED    ADDRESSES. 

The  first  Memorial  address  delivered  in  Columbus  was  by  Col. 
J.  N.  Ramsey,  in  1866,  in  St.  Luke  M.  E.  Church. 

The  second  address,  the  following  year,  was  by  Dr.  E.  F. 
Colzey.  and  was  delivered  at  Temperance  Hall.  In  1868  and 
1869,  respectively,  Maj.  R.  J.  Moses  and  Judge  J.  F.  Pou 
delivered  the  address  at  the  old  Cenotaph  at  the  cemetery. 
This  was  a  building  constructed  of  wood,  with  a  dome-like  roof, 
supported  by  six  slend  *r  pillars,  wliicli  rested  on  hexagonal 
posts,  some  five  feet  high.  The  structure  was  about  thirty  feet 
in  height  and  painted  white,  with  an  arched  roof,  on  which  was 
inscribed  the  names  of  the  officers  and  privates  killed  in  the  war. 
On  the  dome,  on  a  small  gilt  circle,  was  the  inscription  of 
"General  Semme-!."  In  1870  Hon.  Thomas  W.Grimes  delivered 
the  address  at  Temperance  Hall.  After  that  date  the  addi esses 
were  delivered  at  Sf)ringer  Opera  House.  A  complete  list  of  the 
Memorial  orators  since  the  inauguration  of  the  custom  is  as 
follows  : 


37 


MEMORIAL    ORATORS. 


1866 Col.  J.  N.  Ramsey.  1882. ..Rev.  S.  P.  Calloway. 

1867 Dr.  E.  F.  Colzey.         1883 G.  E.  Thomas,  Jr. 

1868 Maj.  R.  J.  Moses.         1884 Maj.  R.  J.  Moses. 

1869 Judge  Joseph  F.  Pou.  1885. ..Henry  R.  Goetchius. 

1870 T.  W.  Grimes.         1886 T.  J.  Chappell. 

1871 C.  H.  Williams.  1887  .  ...Charlton  E.  Battle. 

1872 Judge  Wm.  A.  Little.  1888.  ...Capt.  S.  P.  Gilbert. 

1873 Capt.  J.  J.  Slade.         1889 J.  Harris  Chappell. 

1874... Ex-Mayor  Sam  Cleghorn.  1890.-.. Hon.  Fulton  Colville. 

1875 Thomas  H.  Hardeman.  1891.... Capt.  W.  E.  Wooten. 

1876 Henry  W.  Hilliard.  1892. ..Capt.  John  D.  Little. 

1877....Capt.  J.R.  McCleskev.         1893 ...Hunt  Chiplev. 

1878.. ..William.  H.  Chambers.         1894 Judge  John  Ros^s. 

1079. ..Gov.  Alfred  H.  Colquitt.  1895. ..Hon.  Lionel  C.  Levy. 

1880 ....Lionel  C.  Levy.         1896 Rev.  W.  A.  Carter. 

1881... .Capt.  Reese  Crawford.         1897 Robert  Howard. 

1898 Henry  R.  Goetchius. 


The  Atlanta  Constitution,  of  April  27th,  1898,  gives  the 
following  account  of  the  celebration  of  Memorial  Day  in 
Columbus  : 

COLUMBUS     CELEBRATES 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    DECORATIOX    DAY  AND    CROWNS    THE  MEMORY    OF 

MRS.  ELLIS  — MRS.  WILLIAMS'  ADVOCACY    OF 

MEMORIAL    RECORDED. 

Columbus,  Ga.,  April  26. — (Special.) — The  celebration  of 
Memorial  Day  in  this  city,  where  the  idea  originated,  was  notable 
in  many  respects. 

To  begin  with,  the  celebration  itself  was  as  imposing  as  any 
ever  held  in  the  history  of  the  city,  and  the  ladies  of  the  Memorial 
Association  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  to  settle  authorita- 
tively the  question  as  to  whom  belonged  the  credit  of  inaugurating 
this  beautiful  custom. 

THE    LADIES    MEMORIAL    ASSOCIATION. 

In  1861,  at  tlie  beginning  of  the  war,  there  was  organized  in 
Columbus  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
this  was  merged  into  the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association,  which 
organization  iias  existed  ever  since.     The  idea  of  decoratini^  the 


38 

graves  of  the  soldiers  originated  with  a  Columbus  lady,  Mis& 
Lizzie  Rutherford,  afterwards  Mrs.  Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis,  the 
wife  of  Captain  Roswell  Ellis,  of  the  Columbus  Guards.  Mrs. 
Charles  J.  Williams  was  another  lady  who  took  a  very  active 
part  in  the  orgai  ization  of  the  As80ciation,  and  it  was  largely 
through  her  ertbrts  that  the  idea  gained  the  publicity  and  popu- 
larity that  it  attained,  and  for  a  time  the  name  of  Mrs.  Ellis  was 
overlooked. 

In  1866,  at  the  end  of  the  war,  there  was  a  meeting  of  ^ 
small  number  of  ladies,  who  formed  the  Ladies  Memorial  Asso- 
ciation. Of  the  ladies  who  attended  that  meeting  there  are 
only  two  living.  They  are  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter  and  Mrs. 
William  G.  Woolfolk.  Shortly  after  the  organization  of  the 
Columbus  Association  the  idea  gained  wide  popularity  through- 
out the  South,  and  similar  organizations  Avere  perfected  in 
numerous  cities  and  towns,  until  now  every  place  has  an  organized 
body  of  noble  women  whose  duty  and  whose  pleasure  it  is  to  see 
that  the  memory  of  the  South's  dead  heroes  is  honored  in  a 
fitting  way  by  elaborate  and  interesting  exercises  on  the  26th 
day  of  every  April. 

AN    INTERESTING    OCCASION. 

The  celebration  possessed  unusual  interest.  Mr.  Henry  R. 
Goetchius  was  orator  of  the  day,  and  his  tribute  to  the  Con- 
federate dead  was  most  eloquent.  The  following  was  the 
programme  carried    out : 

Music — "Funeral  March,"  Chopin — Prof.  J.  Lewis  Browne. 

Praver— Rev.  W.  A.  Carter,  D.  D. 

Music-  "Who  will  Care  for  Mother  Now?"  Octette. 

Introduction  of  Speaker — By  jNIr.  Robert  Howard. 

Memorial  Address — Hon.  Henry  R.  Goetchius. 

Music — "The  Vacant  Chair." 

History  of  Memorial  Day — Presented  to  the  Lizzie  Rutherford  Chap- 
ter, Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  read  by  Mr.  Frank  Garrai'd. 

Music— "The  Conquered  Banner" — Miss  Mary  Kivlin. 

Recitation — "Our  Confederate  Dead" — Miss  Maggie  Martin  Harrison. 

Music — "Let  Us  Pass  Over  the  River,"  Stonewall  Jackson's  last 
words — Chorus. 

Piano — Miss  Mary  Kivlin. 

Cornets — Clarence  Gray  and  Mr.  Berry. 

Violin — Mr.  Dreyspool. 

Benediction — Rev.  A.  M.  Wynn. 

THE    MILITARY    FEATURE. 

The  Columbus  Guards,  the  Browne  Fencibles  and  the  Phenix 
City  Rifles,  the  local  military  organizations,  were  out  in  full 
force.     The  two  Albany   companies,  Companies  E  and  G  of  the 


39 


Guards,  were  present  as  guests  of  the  Columbus  military  by 
special  invitation,  and  participated  in  the  exercises,  tbus  makini 
the  military  feature  an  imposing  one.  The  Albany  boys  arrived 
in  the  city  this  morning,  and  were  met  at  the  depot  by  the 
Guards  and  Fencibles,  who  escorted  them  to  their  armory  The 
Ulumbus  military  is  very  appreciative  of  the  hospitality  exhib- 
ited on  the  occasion  of  their  recent  trip  to  Albany. 
The  line  of  march  was  as  follows : 

First,  mounted  policemen. 
Fourth  Regiment  Band. 

panie?Eind7  TT^'lu''  C^?°^b"^  Guards,  Browne  Fencibles,  com- 
^  Tht  .  ^  °^  *^^  Albany  Guards,  and  the  Phenix  Citv  Rifles 

officers?'''''^^'''''  '"'"'"  ^''™''^  "^  '^''"''^"«"''  ^«<^ording  to  the  Suk  of  the 

Phenix  City  Brass  Band. 

The  True  Blues,  small  bovs. 

The  Confederate  Veterans  of  Camp  Bennino- 

feons  ot  Confederate  Veterans,  mounted       * 

-tire  Department. 

Orator  of  the  Day  in  carriage. 

Ladies'  Memorial  Association,  in  carriages 

Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

Citizens  in  carriages. 

At  the  cemetery  the  usual  salutes  were  fired  over  the  graves 
ot  the  soldiers.     As  usual,  the  graves  were  beautiful  decorated. 

THE    MEMORY    OF   MRS.    ELLIS. 

_  The  notable  feature  of  the  day  was  the  history  of  the  Asso- 
ciation prepared  officially,  wherein  the  full  credit  is  awarded 
Mrs.  Lll.s  of  having  originated  the  idea  of  a  floral  remembrance, 
and  to  Mrs.  Williams  of  having  taken  it  up  and  carried  it  to 
success.  ^ 

(Then  followed  a  copy  of  the  history  as  heretofore  set  out  in 
these   pages,  embracing  the  affidavits,  letter  of  Mrs.  Williams 
%i'  l\'''   .  ,/^""  ^'^^^^'ence  to  the  oration,  the  report  concluded 
tie  re  on  ^'"^  ""^  ^'^'^'^''  '"^'"''^  portraits  accompanied 

THE    HONOR    ROLL. 

Mrs.  Absalom  H  (Loretta  R.  Lamar)  Chappell  was  first 
President  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Columbus. 

Mrs.  Robert  (Evelyn  Page  Nelson)  Carter  was  the  second  and 
only  succeeding  President  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society,  and  the 
first  President  of  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus      She 


40 

was  elected  in  1866  and  remained  in  office  until  the  date 
of  her  death,  in  January,   1896. 

Mrs,  Louis  F.  (Annie  Leonard)  Garrard  is  now  President 
of  the  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus,  having  succeeded 
Mrs.  Carter. 

Mrs.  William  G.  (Maria  Byrd  Nelson)  Woolfolk  and  Mrs. 
Charles  E.  (Clara  M.  Hodges)  Dexter  are  the  only  surviving 
ladies  of  the  number  which  met  in  1866  to  organize  the  Memo- 
rial Association. 

Miss  Anna  C.  Benning  is  President  of  the  Lizzie  Rutherford 
Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  at  Columbus, 

Mrs.  Lizzie  Rutherford  Ellis  is  tlie  lady  in  whose  patriotic 
heart  originated  the  idea  of  Memorial  Day  and  the  originator  of 
the  custom. 

Mrs.  Charles  J.  (Mary  Ann  Howard)  Williams  is  the  Secretary 
of  the  Memorial  Association  whose  gifted  pen  wrote  the  letter 
which  obtained  from  the  ladies  of  the  South  co-operation  with 
the  ladies  of  Columbus  in  establishing  JMemorial  Day. 

Mrs.  Peter  (Jane  E.  Ware)  Martin  has  been  Secretary  of  the 
Ladies'  Memorial  Association  of  Columbus  for  the  past  30  years. 


LADIES' 

MEMORIAL   ASSOCIATION 


COLUMBUS,   GEORGIA. 


PRESENT    OFFICERS  : 
President,  MRS.  LOUIS  F.  GARRARD. 


Mrs.  W.  G.  Woolfolk, 
Mrs.  Reese  Crawford, 


Vice  Presidents  : 

Miss  Ann.^  Caroline  Benning, 

Mrs.  0.  S.  Jord.\n, 
Mrs.  a.  Dozier. 


Treasurer,  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Dexter. 


Secretary,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Martin. 


Assistant  Secretaries : 
Mits.  Joseph  S.  Harrison,  Mrs.  J.  Norman  Pease 


(This  is  not  a  complete  list.  An  earnest  effort  has  been  made  to  obtain  the  names  of  all  the 
members,  but  this  effort  has  not  been  successful.  The  list  is  arranged  without  reference  to  age  or 
time.  Many  have  married  and  it  was  not  possible  in  some  Instances  to  ascertain  their  present 
names.  Some  also  are  dead,  but  it  was  thought  best  that  all  nauies  obtainable  should  be  here  re- 
corded.) 


Adams,  Miss  Fannie 

Allen,  Mrs.  A.  M.— Sallie  Bellinger. 

Backus.  Miss  Annie  J. 

Bailey,  Miss  Belle 

Bailey,  Miss  E.  H. 

Banks,  Miss  Sue 

Beunett,  Miss  Anna 

Benning,  3Irs.  Henry  L — Mary  Howard  Jones. 

Benning,  Miss  Anna  Corolue 

Benning,  Miss  Mary  Howard 

Blanchard,  Mrs.  McDuffie— Sarah  J.  W. 

Blanchard,  Mrs.  W.  A. — Henrietta  Seabrook. 

Bradford,  jliss  Mary 

Eiannon,  Mrs.  A.  M.— Julia  A.  Fuller. 

Brooks,  Miss  Josephine 

Biowiie,  Mrs.  J.  Rhodes,  Jr., — Nina  Young. 

Bruce,  Mrs.  Henry — (Deedee  Patten  ) 

Bruce,  Miss  Blary  Louis;i 

Bruce,  Mrs.  Wm. — Slary  Louisa  Jones. 

Bullard,  Mrs.  W.  L.— Mary  Blackmar. 

Burrus,  Mrs.  Lawrence  M. 

Bussey,  Mrs.  Henry — Elizabeth  Lucas. 

Byiugton,  Mrs.  B.  T. — Elia  Goode. 

Bynum,  Mrs. — Emma  Ty'si" 

Camp,  Mrs.  L  A. — Annie  Camp 

Cameron,  Miss  Euima 

Carter,  Mrs.  John  D  — Zoouomia  Hoxey. 

Carter,  Mrs.  Robt. — Evelyn  Page  Nelson. 

Carter,  Mrs.  Robt.  E.— Belle  Powers. 

Carter,  Mrs.  W.  A. — Agnes  Quigley 

Chapman,  Mrs.  Brad. — Elizabeth . 

Chappell,  Mrs.  L.  H. — Cythia  Kent  Hart. 

Cleghorn,  Miss  Sallie 

Cody,  Mrs.  A.  A.— Mary  Roberta  Williams. 


Comer,  Jlrs.  Laura  Beecher 

Cook,  Miss  Mary  Elvira 

Copeland,  Mrs. — Maggie  Cook. 

Chancellor  Mrs.  A.  C. — Carrie  Wynne. 

Carson,  Mrs.  Ri>bt. — Ida  Brannon. 

Cowdery,  Miss  Eveline 

Cowderv,  Miss  Mattie 

Curtis,  BIrs.  N   N.- Patty  Welborne. 

Curtwright.  Mrs.  — Lizzie  Murkenfuss. 

Crawford,  Mrs.  Beunett  -May  Lowe. 

Crawtord,  Mrs.  Reese— Augusta  Jane  Benning. 

Dexter,  Mrs.  Chas   K.     ('lara  M.  Hodges. 

Dillingham,  Mrs.  Geo.  — Anna  Hall. 

Dismukes,  Mrs.  E.  F. — Annie  E.  Forman. 

Downing.  3Irs.  L   T. — Lucy  Uri|uhart. 

Dozier,  Mrs.  A.  A.— Susie  Morekmd. 

Dozier.  Mrs.  Albert— Mary  (  ook. 

Ellis,  Mrs.  Roswell — Lizzie  Rutherford. 

Evans,  Miss  Eula 

Evans,  Mrs.  K.  H.— Dillie  Waddell. 

Estes,  Mrs.  Marion— Maggie  Kirven. 

Farish,  Mrs.  Robert— Helen  Slade. 

Fogle,  Mrs.  Wm.— Sallie  Rutherford 

Fontaine,  .Mrs.  Wm. — Laura  Ynestrai 

Forsyth,  Miss  Anna 

Flewellen,  Mrs.  Abner  C. — Sarah  Porter  Shepherd 

Gardiner,  Miss  Anna  Byrd 

Gardiner,  Miss  MoUie 

Garrard,  Miss  Annie  Leonard 

Garrard,  Sliss  Helen  Gertrude 

Garrard,  Mrs.  L.  F.— Annie  F.  Leonard 

Garrett,  Mrs.  Joseph Heard 

Gilbert,  Mrs.  S.  P.— INIary  Howard 
Goetchius,  5Irs.  H   R.— Mary  Russell 


MEMBERS— Continued. 


Goetchius,  Mrs.  R.  E. — Mary  Beuuett 

Gordon,  Mrs.  Hugh — Carrie  Williams 

Gray,  Mrs.  M.  E. — Alice  Tyler 

Greene,  Mrs.  R.  H. 

Griffin,  Miss  Anna  Helena 

Hanserd,  Mrs.  Jos. — Marj'  Bethuue 

Hanserd,  Miss  Mary  L. 

Harrison,  Mrs.  J.  S.  — Sallie  Martin 

Harden,  Mrs.— Mary  Tyler 

Hardeman,  Mrs.  Frank— Anne  MacDougald 

Harrison,  Mrs.  W.  P.— Mary  F.  Hodges 

Hatcher,  Mrs.  S.  B. — Susie  Madden 

Hill,  Mrs.  Joe  Hill — Mary  Helen  Downing 

Hines,  Mrs.  Thos. — Clothide  deLaunay 

Hiisch,  Mrs.  Herman — Annie 

Hodges,  Mrs.  M.  E.— Elizabeth  Smith 

Hopkins,  Mrs.  L.  0. 

Howard,  Miss  Lila 

Howard,  Mrs.  Ralph  0.— Willie  Watt 

Howard,  Miss  Mary  Jones 

Howard,  Mrs.  T.  B  ,  Jr.— Nettie  Williams 

Howard,  Mrs.  Wm. — Fannie  Anderson 

Hull,  Mrs  H.  L. — Sarah  Jones  Benning 

Hudson,  Mrs  David— Juliette  M.  Hall 

Hudson,  Mrs.  Beuj. —Ellen  Charlton 

Hurt,  Mrs.  Chas.  D. 

Hurt,. Mrs.  Fannie 

Iversou,  Miss  Leona  Hamilton 

Jenkins,  Mrs.  Felix— Ella  Crawford 

Johnson,  Mrs.  Milton — Marj'  B.  Jones 

Jones,  Miss  A.  Katharine 

Jones,  Mrs.  Clifton — Annie  Johnson 

Jones,  Mrs.  John  A. — Mary  Louisa  Leonard 

Jones,  Mrs.  Marj'  Eliza  Rutherford 

Jones,  Mrs.  Seaborn — Mary  Howard 

Jordan,  Mrs  0.  S.— Bettie  Blake  Dexter 

Jordan,  Miss  Maud 

Kiucaid,  Miss  Mary 

King,  Miss  Mattie 

Leitner,  Mrs.  John 

Levy,  Miss  Edna 

Levy,  Miss  Frances  Marian 

Levy,  Mrs.  Lionel  C. — Isabel  Moses 

Lewis,  Miss  Alabama 

Lewis,  Miss  Annie  Belle 

Lewis,  Miss  Leila 

Lewis,  Miss  Mary 

Lewis,  Mrs.  M.  N. 

Little,  Mrs.  W.  A. — Jinnie  Dozier 

MacAllister,  Mrs.  J.  M. 

MacDougald,  Mrs.  Emily  Fitton 

Mathews,  Mrs.  John — Mary 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  F.  Katherine  T.  Downing 
Mott,  Mrs.  R.— Annie  Battle 


Murdoch,  Mrs.  E.  B.-Lydia  Spencer 

Niel,  Mrs.  Geo. — Alabama  Lindsay 

Osburn,  Mrs.  C.  T. — Cornelia  Bacon 

Paramore,  Mrs.  John 

Patten,  Mrs.  Richard — Martha  Ann  Hodges 

Patterson,  Miss  Mildred  Lewis 

Pearce,  Mrs.  J.  H. 

Pease,  Mrs.  J.  Norman — Anna  Vivian  Jones 

Poe,  Mrs.  0. Magruder 

Pond,  Miss  Callie 

Pope,  Mrs  Wm. — Lizzie  .Patten 

Pou,  Mrs.  Joseph — Antoinette  Dozier 

Redd,  Mrs.  C.  A. — Eugenia  Weems 

Redd,  Mrs.  N.  L. — Rebecca  Fergerson 

Sarliug,  Mrs.  Solomon 

Shepherd,  Mrs  Anne 

Smith,  BIrs.  Milton  J. — Florida  Welborue 

Spencer,  Mrs  R.  P.— Ida  T.  Speed 

Spencer,  Mrs.  Samuel — Louisa  V.  Benning 

Stewart,  Miss  Catty 

Stewart,  Mrs.  J.  M. 

Strupper,  Mrs.  I.  G. — Mary  Everett 

Tickuor,  Mrs.  Douglas — Sarah  D.  Ticknor 

Tickuor,  Mrs.  F.  0. — Rosa  Nelson 

Ticknor,  Mrs.  Geo. — Nora  Stewart 

Tiguer,  Mrs.  W.  F. 

Tigner,  Mrs.  G.  T. — Johnnie  Lindsay 

Thomas,  Miss  Estelle 

Thomas,  Mrs.  6.  E. 

Thomas,  Miss  Mary  J. 

Torrence,  Miss  Harriet 

Torrence,  Miss  Matilda 

Tyler,  Miss  Anna 

Tyler,  Mrs.  John 

Tyler,  Miss  Rosa 

Waddell,  Miss  Bessie  F 

Waddell,  Miss  Sallie  N. 

Ware,  Mrs.  R.  A. — Margaret  Ellison 

Warner,  Mrs.  Chas. — Susie  Swift 

Watson,  Mrs.  H.  L. — Annie  Patten 

Weems,  Miss  Lottie 

Wells,  Mrs.  M.  E. Birdsong 

Williams,  Mrs.  Chas.  J. — Mary  Ann  Howard 

Williams,  Mrs.  (Dr.)  Chas. Beall 

Worrell,  Miss  Kate 

Worrell,  Mrs.  James— Emma  Biggers 

Worrell,  Miss  Josephine 

Woodruff,  Mrs.  Chas  -Marj'  Lou  Mott 

AVoodruff,  Mrs.  Geo.  W. — Virginia  Lindsay 

Woodruff,  Mrs.  Henry— May  Patten 

Woolfolk,  Mrs.  Wm.  G.— Maria  Byrd  Nelson 

Wright,  Mrs. — Mary  Bridges  Murdoch 

Yonge,  Mrs.  Ed. — Lucy  Banks 


ii!liil!ilii 


MUlilinjiHIIJiHIl 


